The post-pleistocene decline of takahe (notornis mantelli): a reply

Abstract

The decline and or extinction of herbivorous mammals and birds since the Pleistocene has been a global event (Diamond, 1984; Grayson, 1984; Marshall, 1984). Two differing viewpoints have been advanced to explain the phenomenon: (1) climate and vegetational changes in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, and (2) ecological changes induced by man. © 1988 Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand.