New Zealand Journal of Botany abstracts

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Mountain beech (Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides) decline in the Kaweka Range, North Island, New Zealand

G. P. HOSKING
J. A. HUTCHESON

Ministry of Forestry, Forest Research Institute
Private Bag, Rotorua, New Zealand

Abstract Forest dieback in the Kaweka Range appears to be a stage in the natural process of replacement for mountain beech. An examination of stand structure in stable, transitional, and unstable forest showed dieback and tree mortality to be associated with mature and over mature stands. Recruitment peaks suggest periodic natural disturbance, such as severe drought, initiates tree decline. Insects and disease, although contributing to the rate of decline, were shown to be symptoms rather than causes.

Keywords Nothofagus; beech decline; dieback; Kaweka Range

Received 16 November 1987; accepted22 February 1988
New Zealand Journal of Botany, 1988, Vol. 26: 393-400
0028-825X/88/26O3-O393$2.50/0 © Crown copyright 1988

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (1108K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

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