The Southland temperate forests is a

temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These f ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's South Island. The natural vegetation was mostly forest, but over the centuries human activities, including grazing and fires, replaced much of the original forest with grassland and agriculture.Fund, W. (2014)
Southland temperate forests

Geography

The Southland temperate forests occupy the southernmost portion of the South Island.

Fiordland Fiordland is a geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the westernmost third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lake ...

lies to the west. The

South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

lies to the south and southeast. The

Takitimu Mountains The Takitimu Mountains extend in a north–south direction southeast of Te Anau and Manapouri. The mountain range is about long and contains several peaks of around height, with the Brunel Peaks reaching . In Māori people mythology, the mou ...

and

Hokonui Hills The Hokonui Hills, also known as ''The Hokonui Mountains'' or simply ''The Hokonui'', are a range of hills in central Southland, New Zealand. They rise to 600 metres above the surrounding Southland Plains, of which the hills mark a northern extre ...

form the northern edge of the ecoregion. Other highlands include the

Longwood Range The Longwood Range is a range of hills to the west of the Southland Plains, Southland, New Zealand. From the 1860s until the 1950s gold mining was prevalent in the Longwood Ranges. There are many small towns and localities situated around the per ...

in the southwest, and

The Catlins The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southla ...

in the southeast. The

Southland Plains The Southland Plains is a general name given to several areas of low-lying land in the South Island of New Zealand, separated by the rise of the Hokonui Hills in the north. It forms a sizeable area of Southland region and encompasses its two pr ...

cover the central-southern portion of the ecoregion.

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

is the largest city in the ecoregion. Most of the ecoregion lies within the Southland Region, with part of the northeast of the ecoregion being in Otago.

Flora

The natural vegetation was mostly forest of broadleaf trees and

podocarp Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pr ...

conifers. Higher-elevation forests are predominantly

southern beech ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...

(''Nothofagus''), including

silver beech ''Nothofagus menziesii'', commonly known as silver beech ( mi, tawhai, tahina), is a tree of the southern beech family endemic to New Zealand. Its common name probably comes from the fact that its bark is whitish in colour, particularly in younge ...

(''Nothofagus menziesii'') in the western mountains and

red beech Red beech is a common name applied to several species of trees: *'' Dillenia alata'', native to Northern Australia and New Guinea *'' Fuscospora fusca'', native to New Zealand *''Protorhus longifolia ''Protorhus longifolia'', the red beech, is ...

(''Nothofagus fusca'') in the northern mountains. The lowland forests include broadleaf trees and podocarps, with

kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori) and white pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. A podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining heights of 60 m and a life span of 600 years. It was fi ...

(''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'') common in swampy areas and

rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps. The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian ...

(''Dacrydium cupressinum'') in drier areas. The broadleaf evergreen southern rata (''Metrosideros umbellata'') and

kamahi ''Weinmannia racemosa'', commonly called kāmahi, is an evergreen small shrub to medium-sized tree of the family Cunoniaceae. It is the most abundant forest tree in New Zealand, occurring in lowland, montane, and subalpine forests and shrublan ...

(''Weinmannia racemosa'') are found in the central hill country and in The Catlins. Tussock grasslands occurred naturally, and expanded into large areas where the forests were burned or cleared.

Red tussock grass ''Chionochloa rubra'', known commonly as red tussock grass, is a species of tussock grass in the grass family, endemic to New Zealand. Description New Zealand has 22 endemic species of ''Chionochloa'', including ''Chionochloa rubra'', which ha ...

(''Chionochloa rubra'') was the predominant species, with snow tussocks (primarily '' Chionochloa'' spp.) found on the higher peaks. Other habitats include dunes, coastal and riverine wetlands, and coastal tussock grasslands.

Fauna

Native birds include the

yellow-eyed penguin The yellow-eyed penguin (''Megadyptes antipodes''), known also as hoiho or tarakaka, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand. Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (''Eudyptula minor''), molecular research has shown it ...

(''Megadyptes antipodes''), yellowhead or mōhua (''Mohoua ochrocephala''), and

New Zealand rock wren The New Zealand rock wren (''Xenicus gilviventris'') is a small New Zealand wren (family Acanthisittidae) endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Its Māori names include ("little complaining bird"), , and ("twitch", after its bobbing moti ...

(''Xenicus gilviventris'').

Swamp harrier The swamp harrier (''Circus approximans''), also known as the Australasian marsh harrier, Australasian harrier or swamp-hawk, is a large, slim bird of prey widely distributed across Australasia. In New Zealand it is also known as the harrier haw ...

s (''Circus approximans'') and South Island fernbirds (''Bowdleria punctata punctata'') inhabit the tussock grasslands.

Southern elephant seal The southern elephant seal (''Mirounga leonina'') is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its ...

s (''Mirounga leonina''),

New Zealand fur seal ''Arctocephalus forsteri'' (common names include the Australasian fur seal, South Australian fur seal, New Zealand fur seal, Antipodean fur seal, or long-nosed fur seal) is a species of fur seal found mainly around southern Australia and New Z ...

s (''Arctophoca forsteri'') and

New Zealand sea lion The New Zealand sea lion (''Phocarctos hookeri''), once known as Hooker's sea lion, and as or (male) and (female) in Māori, is a species of sea lion that is endemic to New Zealand and primarily breeds on New Zealand's subantarctic Auckland ...

s (''Phocarctos hookeri'') live on the shore.

History

At the end of the ice age, New Zealand's glaciers retreated and the region became forested. In New Zealand birds were the largest land animals, and several species of flightless

moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refe ...

inhabited the ecoregion, along with

Haast's eagle Haast's eagle (''Hieraaetus moorei'') is an extinct species of eagle that once lived in the South Island of New Zealand, commonly accepted to be the pouakai of Māori legend.New Zealand swan (''Cygnus sumnerensis'') and the South Island goose (''Cnemiornis calcitrans'')."Catlins coastal area"
New Zealand Department of Conservation - Te Papa Atawhai. Accessed 31 August 2020. The Maori settled the region after 1300. The early settlers hunted birds and seals, and the moa, New Zealand swan, and New Zealand goose were hunted to extinction. Haast's eagle relied on moas for food, and also became extinct. Hunters set fires to drive game from the forests, and frequent fires converted large areas of forest to tussock grassland. As populations of large birds and seals dwindled, fishing became an increasingly important source of food for the local Maori and they established ''kaika'' or seasonal camps, along the shoreline. European settlers arrived in the 19th century. Mixed-race whaling bases were established at Port Molyneux, Tautuku, and Waikawa, but the whales were soon over-hunted and whaling was abandoned. In the second half of the 19th century farmers and loggers settled the region, and sawmilling became an important local industry. The Southland Plains became one of New Zealand's most productive agricultural areas. Much of the remaining lowland forest was cleared, and many of the wetlands were drained or filled. Large-scale livestock grazing and introduced exotic grasses altered the ecology of the grasslands.

Conservation and threats

Large areas of the ecoregion have been converted to farmland or pasture. Over the past several decades a network of protected areas has been established to preserve several remaining blocks of upland forest and coastal wetland habitat. Logging, land clearance for development, and introduced exotic species remain threats to the ecoregion's

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 2,396 km², or 21%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Catlins Conservation Park (528.89 km²), established in 1975, is the largest protected area in the ecoregion. Others include Takitimu Conservation Area (457.14 km²) in the Takitimu Mountains, Longwood Forest Stewardship Area (229.55 km²) in the Longwood Range, Hokonui Forest Stewardship Area (53.68 km²) in the Hokonui Hills, and Seaward Moss Stewardship Area (56.22 km²) on the southern coast.UNEP-WCMC (2020). Protected Area Profile for New Zealand from th
World Database of Protected Areas
September 2020.

References

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External links

Southland temperate forests
at

Encyclopedia of Earth The ''Encyclopedia of Earth'' (abbreviated ''EoE'') is an electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society. The ''Encyclopedia'' is described as a free, fully searchable collection of articles ...

Ecoregions of New Zealand Forests of New Zealand Australasian ecoregions Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Geography of Southland, New Zealand Geography of Otago