The Nelson Coast temperate forests is an

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Location and description

These forests are located on the flanks of the

Paparoa Range The Paparoa Range is a mountain range in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. It was the first New Zealand land seen by a European – Abel Tasman in 1642. Part of the range has the country's highest protection as a national par ...

and other mountains at the top of

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. The area is thickly forested and has high rainfall, especially on the west-facing slopes but less so on the sheltered eastern side, which has golden sand beaches. Natural features of the region include: the limestone Pancake Rocks near the town of

Punakaiki Punakaiki is a small village on the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located between Westport, New Zealand, Westport and Greymouth on , the only through-road on the West Coast. Punakaiki is immediatel ...

on the edge of

Paparoa National Park Paparoa National Park is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The park was established in 1987 and encompasses . The park ranges from or near the coastline to the peaks of the Paparoa Range. A separate section of the park lie ...

;

Farewell Spit Farewell Spit () is a narrow sand spit at the northern end of the Golden Bay, in the South Island of New Zealand. The spit includes around of stable land and another of mobile sand spit running eastwards from Cape Farewell, the northern-mos ...

at the north of the island, the longest sandspit in New Zealand; the nearby Te Waikoropupu Springs; and the

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

areas on the flanks of

Mount Owen (New Zealand) Mount Owen is in the Tasman District of the South Island of New Zealand. It stands at 1875 metres (6150 feet) above sea level and is part of the Marino Mountains. Mount Owen is the tallest mountain found in Kahurangi National Park. There ...

Kahurangi National Park Kahurangi National Park is a national park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the second largest of the thirteen national parks of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers , ranging from the Buller River near Murc ...

Flora

There are small areas of northern rata ''(Metrosideros robusta)'',

rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a species of tree in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a dioecious evergreen conifer, reaching heights of up to , and can have a stout trunk (botany), trunk up to in diameter. It is endemis ...

, and miro

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

hardwoods as well as karaka ''(Corynocarpus laevigatus)'' and the

Nīkau ''Rhopalostylis sapida'', commonly known as nīkau, is a palm tree endemic to New Zealand, and the only palm native to mainland New Zealand. Etymology is a word borrowed from the Māori language; cognates of this word in the closely related E ...

palm ''(Rhopalostylis sapida)'' near the coast. However most of the area is covered in

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

forest containing all four species of Southern beech; red beech,

silver beech ''Nothofagus menziesii'', commonly known as silver beech, is a species of evergreen tree in the family Nothofagaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand and is widespread in the North and South Islands. It reaches a height of up to tall, with a tr ...

and hard beech in the lowlands and mountain beech higher up. In the less fertile rocks areas there are yellow pine ''( Halocarpus biformis)'' and

Dracophyllum ''Dracophyllum'' is a genus of plants belonging to the family Ericaceae, formerly Epacridaceae. There are 61 species in the genus, mostly shrubs, but also cushion plants and trees, found in New Zealand, Australia, Lord Howe Island and New Caledon ...

s including the endemic '' D. townsonii'' and the mountain neinei ('' D. traversii''). The alpine plants found here including '' Celmisia dallii'' occur as these peaks, along with

Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...

at the southern end of the island, were a high-elevation refuge from the effects of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

Fauna

The forests are home to a number of

endemic species Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

including two flightless birds that no longer survive in the lowland areas of the island, these are the western

weka The weka, also known as the Māori hen or woodhen (''Gallirallus australis'') is a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand. Some authorities consider it as the only extant member of the genus '' Gallirallus''. ...

and the largest kiwi, the great spotted kiwi. The varied habitats in the region support a mixture of other birds found here include the

kea The kea ( ; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the Family (biology), family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green, with br ...

, the

kākā The New Zealand kākā (''Nestor meridionalis'') is a large species of parrot of the family New Zealand parrot, Strigopidae found in New Zealand, New Zealand's native forests across the three main Islands of New Zealand. The species is often kn ...

''(Nestor meridionalis)'', the

kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae''), also known as kūkupa (Māori language#Northern dialects, northern Māori dialects), New Zealand pigeon or wood pigeon, is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin describ ...

''(Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae)'' and the kārearea ''(Falco novaeseelandiae)''. Farewell Spit in particular is an important site for wading birds and is on a migration route. The area is also rich in invertebrates including almost half of the known species of amber snails ''( Powelliphanta)''.

Threats and preservation

The forests are threatened by logging and mining, although it is impossible to get permits for large-scale mining in the Kahurangi. The

limestone is particularly fragile and even damaged by recreational

caving Caving, also known as spelunking (United States and Canada) and potholing (United Kingdom and Ireland), is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific ...

. The wildlife is threatened by

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

but they are largely intact at higher elevations. Much of the ecoregion is protected within three national parks; the large

and

s on the west coast, and

Abel Tasman National Park Abel Tasman National Park is a national park at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. It covers of land between Golden Bay / Mohua and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, making it the smallest of National parks of New Zealand, New Zealand's ...

on the north east coast. The coastline is unspoilt too and some of it, including Farewell Spit, is protected as nature reserves of national parks. Efforts are being made to control invasive introduced species, particularly

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Didelphimorphia, or (o)possums, an order of marsupials native to the Americas ** Didelphis, a genus of marsupials within Didelphimorphia *** Common opossum, native to Central and South America *** Virginia opossum, ...

although deer,

chamois The chamois (; ) (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope native to the mountains in Southern Europe, from the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, the Dinarides, the Tatra Mountains, Tatra to the Carpa ...

, hares and goats are also targeted for control. Birds eggs and snails are vulnerable to rats, possums,

stoats The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine or ermine, is a species of mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern regions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Concern on th ...

and wild pigs. Forest fires are always a threat.

References

{{reflist Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Ecoregions of New Zealand Forests of New Zealand Geography of the Tasman District Geography of the West Coast Region