Beech Forest and Understory Communities of New Zealand

1
Beech Forest and Understory Communities of New
Zealand

• Kevin T. Fletcher
• Global Studies New Zealand
• December 2005

2
Outline

• Native beech species of New Zealand
• Nothofagus solandri
• N. fusca
• N. truncata
• N. menziesii
• Geography
• Beech forest composition Understory
  communities
  
• Some problems facing beech forests today

3
Questions?

• What makes the beech forests of New Zealand
  unique and worthy of our attention?
  
• Where are New Zealands beech forests located?
• What beech species are unique to New Zealand?
• What problems do beech forests face today?

4
Native beech species of New Zealand

• Nothofagus solandri
• Mountain Beech
• Nothofagus fusca
• Red Beech
• Nothofagus truncata
• Hard Beech
• Nothofagus menziesii
• Silver Beech

Nothofagus truncata www.doc.govt.nz
5
Why So Special?

• Most species of Nothofagus, including all 4
  species endemic to New Zealand are evergreen, all
  are broadleaved.
  
• All 4 species endemic to New Zealand are
  evergreen broadleaves.
  
• New Zealand beeches often completely dominate the
  forest canopy layer.
  
• Beech forests dominate the South Island.
• (So were bound to see quite a few!)

6
Mountain Beech Forests
www.ffc.canterbury.ac.nz/ cass/rlabact2004.shtml
www.ffc.canterbury.ac.nz/ cass/rlabact2004.shtml
7
Nothofagus solandri Mountain Beech
Black Beech

• N. solandri var. solandri
• Found mainly in mountainous forests, often all
  the way to tree line
  
• Sometimes extends to sea level in southern
  latitudes
  
• Up to 15m tall and 1m across
• Nothofagus solandri occupies the widest habitat
  range of all New Zealands trees.
  

• N. solandri var. cliffortioides
• Black trunk due to mold.
• Found mostly in lowlands, range doesnt extend as
  far south
  
• Up to 25m tall and 1.5m across

http//static.flickr.com/15/20206410_c14edf378b_m.
jpg
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Red Beeches
http//www.bushmansfriend.co.nz/xurl/PageID/9165/A
rticleID/-32615/function/moreinfo/content.html
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Nothofagus fuscaRed Beech

• Found from mountains to lowlands, but neither as
  high nor as low as mountain beech.
  
• Trunks often with large buttresses.
• Grows up to 30m tall and 2m across
• Fresh wood appears dark red in color
• Bark sometimes used for a black dye

http//www.nzplantpics.com/nz_trees.htm
10
Hard Beeches
http//www.bushmansfriend.co.nz/xurl/PageID/9165/A
rticleID/-32615/function/moreinfo/content.html
http//y23.50g.com/hauturu7/
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Nothofagus truncataHard Beech

• High silica content in wood. Hard to saw.
• Found in lowland regions of North Island and
  northern South Island
  
• Grows up to 30m tall and 2m across

http//www.nzpcn.org.nz/vascular_plants/index02.as
p?FilternFilterStatus12
http//y23.50g.com/hauturu7/
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Silver Beeches
http//www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/001Other-Places/00
8Wellington/Tararua-Forest-Park/index.asp
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Nothofagus menziesiiSilver Beech

• Named for its white bark, especially in young
  trees
  
• Found in northern and southern South Island but
  not in the middle montane forests up to tree
  line in wet conditions
  
• Grows up to 30m tall and 2m across
• Unique doesnt hybridize with other three, and
  hosts strawberry fungus (Cyttaria) which is
  considered edible

www.mycolog.com
http//www.richardwhite.com.au/Gallery/gallery5.ht
ml
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Distribution
Nothofagus fusca
Nothofagus solandri
Nothofagus truncata
Nothofagus menziesii
Maps from http//nothofagus.free.fr/originegeograp
hique.htm
15
Beech forest composition

• Basic forest composition 4 layers
• Canopy layer
• Sub-Canopy layer
• Understory layer
• Forest floor

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Canopy Layer

• Comprises only a few species in beech forests
• Entirely beech trees, unless in a mixed
  podocarp-hardwood forest
  
• Other trees in a mixed forest might include
  kamahi (Weinmannia racemosa), totara (Podocarpus
  hallii), rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), miro
  (Prumnopitys ferrugineus)

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Weinmannia racemosa Kamahi
www.explornz.co.nz/ Discovery.htm
http//www.deliciousorganics.com/Products/organic_
raw_honey.htm
Lord of the Rings?
www.mountainhouse.co.nz/ tracks.htm
http//www.forestlight.co.uk/cgi-bin/gallery.pl?fn
displayphoto_no218
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Podocarpus ballii Totara
orongorongo.wellington.net.nz/ totara.htm
www.fore.canterbury.ac.nz/ fore214/totara.htm
19
Dacrydium cupressinumRimu
www.humpridgejet.com/ jet/gallery/
http//www.btinternet.com/anthony.goreham/new-zea
land/queenstown.html
20
Prumnopitys ferrugineusMiro
orongorongo.wellington.net.nz/ miro.htm
21
Mistletoes(Loranthaceae)

• Many different mistletoes in the trees of New
  Zealands forests
  
• Parasitic plant, often with brightly colored
  flowers/fruits, dispersed most often by birds.
  
• DA Norton and PJ De Lange -- study of host
  specificity in New Zealand mistletoes.
  
• Alepis flavida, Peraxilla colensoi, and P.
  tetrapetala all found to parasitize mainly on
  Nothofagus. Other species -- no host specificity.

22
http//www.kiwiartz.co.nz/i/d/280/a429.jpg
23
Sub-Canopy Layer

• Small trees and large shrugs below canopy layer
• Usually nonexistent in drier, thinner soils,
  maybe some small saplings in canopy gaps.
  
• In wetter environments, some small trees in
  common with podocarp-broadleaf forests, like
  kamahi, stinkwood (Coprosoma foetidissima),
  broadleaf (Griselinia littoralis)
• Blurs with understory at times

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Griselinia littoralis Broadleaf
selectree.calpoly.edu/ photos.lasso?KeyValue679
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Understory Layer

• Mostly sapling trees and small shrubs
• Beech saplings in canopy gaps
• Shrubs mingimingis and coprosomas
• Blurs with sub-canopy at times
• Not much else, relatively thin understory, open
  forest
  
• Think of Lord of the Rings movies, did they have
  to hack through brush often?

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Cyathodes spp.Mingimingis
Coprosoma
y23.50g.com/hauturu7/
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Forest Floor

• Color brightly colored fungi, seasonal orchids
• Lots of milk moss (Leucobryum candidum), lichens,
  liverworts, small ferns
  
• Some herbs

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www.mycolog.com
http//www.katikati.co.nz
http//www.katikati.co.nz
www.ffc.canterbury.ac.nz/ cass/rlabact2004.shtml

• - Mosses and lichens
• - Corybas orchid in moss
• - Strawberry fungus
• Kauri grasses

www.thenewzealandsite.com
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LIVERWORT Schistochila appendiculata
Urtica incisa
www.esc.nsw.gov.au
www.kaimaibush.co.nz
Does this sound or look familiar?
Leptopteris superba, crape fern
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Problems Facing the Forests

• Exotic mammal species herbivory reduction of
  understory layer
  
• Log removal reduces useable nutrient pool
• Earthquakes and resulting landslides

31
Rob AllenPresentation on Beech Forest Ecology
summary

• New Zealand is on a major fault line, thusly, it
  has many earthquakes.
  
• Earthquakes and resulting landslides contribute
  to beech forest disturbance
  
• Removal of logs/timber, fallen or standing,
  removes important nutrients with it.
  
• Pests such as pinhole borers and scale insects
  are also a cause of tree death in beech forests,
  but they dont necessarily pose a problem.

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Herbivory and Understory Reduction

• The main culprit DEER
• All New Zealand mammals are exotic, except 2
  species of bats.
  
• NZ flora highly vulnerable to herbivory damage
• No natural predators for grazing mammals
• Population explosions leading to understory
  depletion
  

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Just one of many examplesFallow Deer(Dama dama)
www.texaswildlifeservices.com
34
Deer Herbivory

• Study by Sean W. Husheer and Chris M. Frampton
  Impacts of Fallow Deer
  
• Deer browse beech saplings
• No significant change in vegetation due to forest
  stage
  
• This will cause problems once canopy gaps open
  up.
  
• Negative effects of forest regeneration

35
Answers to Questions

• What makes the beech forests of New Zealand
  unique and worthy of our attention?
  
• They are evergreen broadleaf trees, endemic to
  New Zealand.
  
• Where are New Zealands beech forests located?
• The western half of South Island, particularly on
  the North and South ends, and throughout North
  Island

36
Answers to Questions

• What beech species are unique to New Zealand?
• Black Bech (Nothofagus solandri var.
  cliffortioides)
  
• Mountain Beech (Nothofagus solandri var.
  solandri)
  
• Red Beech (N. fusca)
• Hard Beech (N. truncata)
• Silver Beech (N. menziesii)

37
Answers to Questions

• What problems do beech forests face today?
• Herbivory from exotic mammal species (mainly
  deer) resulting in a reduction of understory and
  possibly inhibition of regeneration.
  
• Log removal removal of nutrients
• Landslides from earthquakes

38
Resources

• Books
• Dawson, J. and Lucas, R. Nature Guide to the New
  Zealand Forest. Godwit. Random House New Zealand.
  2004
  
• Websites (for pictures)
• http//www.ffc.canterbury.ac.nz/
  cass/rlabact2004.shtml
  
• http//static.flickr.com/15/20206410_c14edf378b_m.
  jpg
  
• http//www.naturespic.com
• http//www.nzplantpics.com/
• http//www.bushmansfriend.co.nz
• http//y23.50g.com/hauturu7/
• http//www.nzpcn.org.nz
• http//www.doc.govt.nz
• http//www.mycolog.com
• http//www.richardwhite.com.au
• http//nothofagus.free.fr/originegeographique.htm
  
• http//www.deliciousorganics.com/Products/organic_
  raw_honey.htm
  
• http//www.explornz.co.nz/ Discovery.htm

39
Resources Continued

• http//www.mountainhouse.co.nz/ tracks.htm
• http//www.forestlight.co.uk/cgi-bin/gallery.pl?fn
  displayphoto_no218
  
• http//orongorongo.wellington.net.nz/
• http//www.fore.canterbury.ac.nz/
  fore214/totara.htm
  
• http//www.btinternet.com/anthony.goreham/new-zea
  land/queenstown.html
  
• http//www.humpridgejet.com/ jet/gallery/
• http//www.kiwiartz.co.nz/i/d/280/a429.jpg
• http//www.biol.canterbury.ac.nz
• http//selectree.calpoly.edu/photos.lasso?KeyValue
  679
  
• http//www.florarium.net
• http//www.katikati.co.nz
• http//www.thenewzealandsite.com
• http//www.esc.nsw.gov.au
• http//www.kaimaibush.co.nz
• http//www.ujf-grenoble.fr
• http//www.texaswildlifeservices.com

40
Resources Continued

• Allen, Rob. Summary of presentation on beech
  forest ecology. Landcare Research.
  http//www.fore.canterbury.ac.nz/euan/beech/rallen
  .htm
• Husheer, SW Frampton, CM. Fallow deer impacts
  on Wakatipu beech forest. New Zealand Jounral of
  Ecology. Vol. 29, No. 1, 2005. 83-94
  
• Norton, DA De Lange, PJ. Host Specificity in
  Parasitic Mistletoes in New Zealand. Functional
  Ecology. Vol. 13, No. 4 Aug. 1999 552-559
  
• Poole, AL. Beeches. 1966 Encyclopedia of New
  Zealand. Beeches/en
  
• Stewart, G et. al. Long tern influences of deer
  browsing on forest health and conservation values
  of the Kaweka Range. WWF New Zealand. Nov.
  1997
• Veblen, TT Stewart GH. The Effects of
  Introduced Wild Animals on New Zealand Forests.
  Annals of the Association of American
  Geographers, Vol. 72, No. 3 Sep. 1982. 372-397
• Wardle, JA. The Life History of Mountain Beech.
  Proceedings of the New Zealand Ecological
  Society, Vol. 21, 1974. 21-26