T A N E 29, 1983
FOREST A N D S C R U B L A N D ZONES OF T H E
WAITAKERE RANGE, AUCKLAND
by A . E . Esler
Botany Division, DSIR, Private Bag, Auckland
SUMMARY
For nearly a century the forests of the Waitakere Range were
subjected to the destructive influences of timber milling, burning and
clearing for farming. Resulting zones of forest and scrubland are
mapped and explained.
T H E PAST
The nature of the vegetation of the Waitakere Range before milling
began in earnest in the middle of last century is undocumented. The
coastal fringe had been influenced by Maori occupation but elsewhere
the land was "entirely covered with luxuriant forest" (Cheeseman 1872).
Forest dominants
Accounts of the milling industry (e. g. Diamond and Hayward 1980)
indicate that large quantities of kauri (Agathis australis) grew in the
region, and many photographs show kauri logs of moderate size not
comparing with gigantic logs hauled from some other kauri forests.
Kauri was widely distributed rather than in separate pockets of trees.
Cheeseman listed kauri, kahikatea (Podocarpus dacrydioides) and rimu
(Dacrydium cupressinum) as the species extensively milled, totara (P.
totara) and matai (P. spicatus) as being milled "to a small degree".
However, it seems certain that puriri (Vitex lucens) was removed, and
also miro (P. ferrugineus) which was probably a more abundant species
than matai. Northern rata (Metrosideros robusta) was mostly left
standing. Many have persisted and indicate a moderate population of
this species, and a general distribution. Cheeseman asserted that tawa
(Beilschmiedia tawa) "... probably forms three-fifths of the forest". It is
now in fairly low numbers in spite of being logged lightly if at all, and
also a potential to regenerate if felled. I believe that Cheeseman may
have over-estimated its significance.
M y concept of the early vegetation is of a kauri-northern rata-rimu
forest over most of the range, kauri being aggregated in some parts and
in others interspersed with rimu and northern rata, these 3 species far
outnumbering totara, Hall's totara (P. hallii), miro, matai and tawa.
Local conditions may have favoured kahikatea (saddles, terraces and
wet slopes), taraire (B. tarairi) and kohekohe (Dysoxylum spectabile)
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(gullies) in quite large numbers, and some pukatea (Laurelia novae-
zelandiae) (stream margins).
The mapou, (Myrsine australis), rewarewa (Knightia excelsa), and
kohuhu (Pittosporum tenuifolium) that Cheeseman regarded as
common, and tanekaha (Phyllocladus trichomanoides), may have been
principally in secondary forest induced by local catastrophes; likewise
also perhaps hinau (Elaeocarpus dentatus) and mangeao (Litsea
calicaris).
Forest patterns
The patterns of forest vegetation in the Waitakere Range were
probably not distinct, there being no major geological discontinuities or
effective altitudinal variations. Undoubtedly there were aggregations of
kauri, but not necessarily on ridges as is commonly supposed. In some
places the versatile rimu may have been in high concentrations, but
totara, matai and miro were not plentiful enough to characterise any
forest stands. Kahikatea, which Cheeseman surprisingly placed among
the three important timber species, normally reaches its fullest
development on wet alluvial soils. It most likely occurred near mouths
of streams and was near to many of the mills. The distribution of tawa
and taraire is unknown but tawa was plentiful enough to receive special
mention by Cheeseman. It is strange that taraire, a component of kauri
forest at Waipoua and other places, and plentiful in remnants north and
south of Auckland, was a minor component.
Successional status
There is a temptation to regard whatever vegetation patterns that
had developed as the end point of sorting of species to match local
habitats over thousands of years. This succession had not reached the
hypothetical natural stable end point - the "climax". The land had not
undergone any major geological change for thousands of years but the
vegetation could have been influenced by early Maori fires to induce
kauri dominance within the last 1 000 years. The kauri remnants today,
though perhaps not typical, give no indication of perpetuation of kauri.
Where mature kauri trees have toppled in recent decades, broad-leaved
species have given kauri seedlings little opportunity to replace the fallen
trees. Removal of kauri by logging may have simply replaced the slow
natural phasing out of kauri.
Forest destruction
The man-made catastrophes that befell the early forests were variable
in nature and degree but the sources of seeds and spores remained and
everywhere the environment favoured the return of forest. This
tendency for regeneration, and infertility and adverse topography for
farming have maintained native vegetation on just about all parts of the
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CONSPECTUS OF VEGETATION CHANGES
Fig. 1. Conspectus of vegetation changes in the Waitakere Range.
Ill
Waitakere Range.
The preoccupation of the loggers for about a century from the 1840s
was the extraction of millable logs of favoured timber trees. Because the
value of the land was primarily in the timber it could immediately yield
there was little regard for matters which concern conservationists
today. Pit sawing of trees near at hand gave way to mass conveyance of
logs by gravity to established mills when the demand for timber
increased. Logs reached the streams by bullock tracks, chutes and
rolling roads, and driving dams were used to flush them down the
streams to holding dams. Tramways carried logs and sawn timber out of
the range. In the process of felling and transport much vegetation was
damaged. A t a later period logs were dragged by haulers to ridge tops
and conveyed to collection points by bullocks or heavy machinery. Trees
previously considered to be unsuitable for milling were harvested during
a second or third logging.
Fire has made a strong impression on the vegetation. Some fires were
accidental and destroyed the forest ahead of the loggers. Fires in cut-
over forest, whether deliberate or accidental, were fuelled by forest
debris, particularly the resinous kauri crowns. The use of fire to clear
land for farming is detailed by Levy (1949). Burning continued while
pasture was being developed to destroy stumps and secondary growth
of tea tree (manuka, Leptospermum scoparium and kanuka, L .
ericoides). Fire alone was inadequate to keep tea tree under control on
these infertile soils in a high rainfall area. Repeated burns gave only a
temporary clearance. Most of the farmland was eventually abandoned
to the tea tree, some of which was harvested for firewood.
The human influences on the original vegetation are summarised in
Fig. 1. Complexity was added to the vegetation pattern by multiple
burning of scrubland, cut-over and standing forest. Burning is the main
factor determining present day patterns.
Comment on Maori influences
Vegetation influenced by Maori activities could not be identified by
the methods used in this survey. J . Beever, from her examination of
early survey plans, and J . T. Diamond and B. W. Hayward, from
archaeological evidence, have indicated to me the general regions not
supporting primary forest at the time of European settlement. It seems
that the Maori influence was extensive along the west coast (and
extended inland a kilometre or more in some places) in areas mapped
here as cut-over and Maori-influenced vegetation without tall trees, and
as tea tree scrubland. Vegetation near Huia and on the Cornwallis
peninsula appears to have been similarly affected.
THE PRESENT
Unmilled and lightly milled forest
Only a small part of the present day Waitakere vegetation is not
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markedly modified by past felling or burning (see Fig. 2). Kauri Grove
Track in the Kitekite Valley runs through a stand of kauri set aside as a
private reserve when forest around it was being cleared. The Cascade
Fig. 2. Vegetation zones of the Waitakere Range.
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Park kauris in the Waitakere catchment were destined to provide about
five million super feet of timber before being acquired from the Kauri
Timber Company jointly by Auckland City Council and the Crown in
1926. Some dead trees were removed at that time.
The largest block with a substantial amount of large kauri lies east of
the Huia Stream near the lower dam. It is unclear why this was not
completely logged. Over the ridge to the east a block of kauri forest was
separated by rough terrain from the mill in the upper Nihotupu and may
not have been accessible from the lower reaches.
These relic stands may not be the same as the early Waitakere forest
but they have the general features of kauri in other districts, except that
average trunk diameters may be a little smaller. The stoutest known
existing kauri in the Waitakeres grows near the lower Huia dam. It has
a trunk diameter of 2. 86 m, is 7 m to the first branch and about 14 m to
the second. Some larger trees have been known especially in the upper
Nihotupu Valley. Trees 1-2 m in diameter occur in these remnants -
about the size of most logs shown in photographs of the milling
operations.
Kauri trees are close together in some places, and in others
interspersed with rimu, miro, totara and northern rata. Unlike
Trounson and Waipoua forests there is no low canopy of tawa and
taraire between the widely-spaced kauri trees. There are the usual kauri
associates - kauri grass {Astelia trinervia), toru (Toronia toru), neinei
(Dracophyllum latifolium) and korokio (Corokia buddleioides) but many
other species also occur, particularly in the Cascades Park. Here the
dominating influence of kauri does not prevail because irregular
terrain, past logging operations and Phytophthora (Podger and
Newhook 1971) have had an influence.
Cut-over forest
Changes in the forest flora following milling were minor but changes
in the structure (the way the plants are arrayed in space) were gross (see
diagram). Some of the species were secondary forest plants growing in
the light pools created by fallen trees, on banks of streams, on bluffs and
on the landslides.
This cut-over forest lacks the majestic trees of the undamaged forest
but is still an attractive feature of the landscape with its tall northern
ratas standing high above an uneven cover of shorter plants. With the
ratas are smaller quantities of tawa, rewarewa and the timber trees
(mainly rimu) not meeting the miller's standards. The distinctive feature
of the canopy is the variety of crown shapes and shades of green.
Among the components of the tall shrub layer are pigeonwood
(Hedycarya arborea), mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus), heketara (Olearia
rani), kohuhu, mapou, species of Coprosma, tree ferns and nikau palms
(Rhopalostylis sapida). The climbers, supplejack (Ripogonum scandens)
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and kiekie (Freycinetia banksii), are abundant and together with Gahnia
make some cut-over forests very difficult to penetrate.
It is forty to one hundred years since these forests were significantly
disturbed. In some places it is still not clear which species will
eventually dominate. In the older stands rimu is well established and
pushing its way through a canopy which casts too much shade for kauri
seedlings to endure. Kohekohe would almost certainly become a
prominent species but the plants are seriously damaged by opossums
before the saplings reach the canopy.
The diagnostic feature of this vegetation is the preponderance of
secondary forest species with scattered tall emergent trees (mainly
northern rata). Vegetation of this kind lies in a broad central belt
stretching from the upper Karamatura Valley to the Waitakere
catchment with an extension down the eastern slopes of the Range in
the region of Opanuku Rd and West Coast Rd. It is mostly on rugged
terrain unsuited to farming.
Cut-over and burnt forest
The distinguishing feature of this vegetation is the absence of relic
emergent northern rata and rimu over a low forest of broadleaved
species.
A burn after milling would have varied in intensity according to the
length of time since milling, the kind of vegetation, the season, the
weather, and the topography. It is likely that in conditions most
favourable for a fire, no area would have been completely bared, though
a very fierce fire would be carried on a dry ridge top, particularly if kauri
crowns were present. The gullies would have been least affected. In
most places there would have been some recovery from sprouting
stumps and germination of buried seeds and seeds carried in from
surrounding vegetation. Some species that survived the logging may
have been eliminated but a total change of vegetation may have
occurred only locally. A l l tall trees left by the millers would have been
killed by the heat but not consumed by the fire. Tree ferns with their
ability to resprout may have provided the first tinges of green on the
blackened landscape. These are now a fairly prominent feature of this
vegetation, some colonies maintaining a firm hold by inhibiting
seedlings of competitors by means of a litter of dead fronds. Nikau
palms with a single vulnerable bud could tolerate only light fires but
they later found congenial habitats for re-establishment on moist
concave slopes and along streams.
Many species make up the low irregular canopy of these secondary
forests but chief among them are pigeonwood, mahoe, heketara,
kohuhu, mapou, species of Coprosma, tree ferns and nikau palms.
The largest tract of this forest is in the headwaters of streams flowing
to the west coast. This is linked by a neck of forest across the range on
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the north side of West Coast Rd and reaching the heads of streams
flowing to the east. A t the southern end of the Waitakere Range this
vegetation is interspersed with blocks of tea tree.
Tea tree scrubland
Only the most destructive fires bared the ground sufficiently for the
small-seeded pioneers manuka and kanuka to establish. These species
probably became important after repeated fires and where farmland had
been developed (Esler and Astridge 1974). Invasion by these species
would have been hampered initially by lack of local seed sources. Once
established, manuka particularly would have been promoted by each
successive fire. Kanuka seeds are borne on the branches for a shorter
time and are also more vulnerable to destruction by fire. It is usual, for
kanuka to eventually prevail over manuka in most places either by prior
occupation or competitive replacement, the kanuka being longer lived,
taller and possibly more shade resistant in its early life. On the least
hospitable sites manuka dominance is shared with small amounts of
mingimingi {Cyathodes fasciculata) and akepiro {Olearia furfuracea). For
a time while the canopy is closed there is insufficient light reaching the
ground to encourage any undergrowth. Later Blechnum capense,
Dianella and Gahnia setifolia increase and a shrub layer of hangehange
{Geniostoma ligustrifolium), Coprosma arborea, C. lucida and silver tree
fern (Cyathea dealbata) develop.
Kauri, rimu and tanekaha are now evident as emergents in the older
stands. Some kauri established in manuka and had only a little way to
grow to reach full light. Mostly, however, kauri entered kanuka stands
and flourished where the light was sufficient. It seems that favourable
conditions for entry of kauri have not been continuous in time or space.
Reliance on wind for seed dispersal into large tracts of tea tree remote
from sources of seed may account for fewer rickers than would be
expected in some areas.
The dense kauri ricker stands which cap many spurs require some
comment. Although they occupy relatively small areas their prominent
position on spurs has given the impression that these are characteristic
kauri sites. It is possible that these rickers could have established after
kauri logging without encouragement from fire and tea tree, as there is
less suppression by the broad-leaved species than in moister habitats.
Rimu invades kanuka stands continuously from the time they
approach maturity. It tolerates shading and is able to respond to better
illumination as the canopy opens or is breached by the rimu crown. This
species is not as conspicuous as kauri at present but is more versatile.
Its ability to grow in cut-over forest gives it a territorial advantage over
kauri.
Tanekaha is a minor feature of secondary forest developing after tea
tree and was probably of little significance in the undisturbed forests of
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the past. It grows with kauri rickers mainly.
A significant diversion of the succession is from tea tree to
communities of Coprosma arborea up to 15 m tall. The outcome is not
clear because few other plants grow beneath the dense canopy.
The distribution of tea tree stands coincides fairly closely with areas
which J . T. Diamond (see Esler and Astridge 1974) considered to have
been farmed, or burnt over by gum diggers. Most of it is within 3 km of
the coast. Discontinuity is caused mainly by intervening valleys with
secondary forest. Inland stands of tea tree are mostly on ridge tops.
THE FUTURE
Much of the Waitakere Range is covered by the 15 000 hectares of
Centennial Memorial Park and water catchments. Its vegetation has
some degree of protection from the direct harmful influences of man but
fires will occur, and opossums will continue to be the prime animal pest.
Natural changes in some communities are quite rapid but the mosaic
of vegetation patterns induced by the uncontrolled quest for timber and
subsequent management of the land will persist into next century and
the century beyond.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful for the assistance of J . Beever, R. E . Beever, W . J . Beveridge, J . T. Diamond,
B. W. Hayward, E . D. Hatch and P. Wardle. I was fortunate in being able to spend much
time in the field with the late A . D. Mead.
REFERENCES
Levy, E . B. 1949: The conversion of rain forest to grassland in New Zealand. Tuatara 2:
37-51.
Diamond, J . T. & Hayward, B . W. 1980: "Waitakere Kauri. A Pictorial History of the Kauri
Timber Industry in the Waitakere Ranges, West Auckland. " The Lodestar Press,
Auckland. 48 p.
Cheeseman, T. F. 1872: On the botany of the Titirangi district of the Province of Auckland.
Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 4: 270-284.
Esler, A . E . & Astridge, S. J . 1974: Tea tree (Leptospermum) communities of the Waitakere
Range, Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 12: 485-501.
Podger, F. D. & Newhook. F. J . 1971: Phytophthora cinnamomi in indigenous plant
communities in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 9: 625-38.
GEOLOGY
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