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Tenure review, land management, & protecting the biodiversity of the Mackenzie Basin floor
Susan WalkerTalk prepared for the Canterbury Aoraki Conservation BoardCanterbury Conservancy Office, 195 Hereford Street, ChristchurchThursday 2 September 2010
Thanks!
Information, data, and photographsRichard Allibone, David Barrell, Warren Chinn, Joy Comrie, Marcus Davis, Nick Head, Bill Lee, Di Lucas, Ian Lynn, Colin Meurk, Geoff Rogers, James Shepherd, Ines Stager, Anne
Steven, Marta Treskonova, Emily Weeks, Jamie Wood
‘Above Hawkes Bay’ (www.abovehawkesbay.com) and Geoff Rogers for oblique aerial photographs
Parts of this talk
Part 1. Tenure review: a recapMy past research and newer data
Part 2. The Mackenzie Basin floorEnvironment, evolution and native biodiversity traits
Changes and threats
Part 3. Biodiversity protection and managementKey ecological questions for protection proposals
Changes under conservation management
Part 1. Tenure review: a recap
Walker, Price & Stephens 20081. Assessed patterns of protection or privatisation to May
2005
2. Predicted future protection and clearance (likelihood of loss)
3. Data sources 1. Land environments2. Land cover (assumed binary indigenous/non-
indigenous status for cover classes)
4. Frame: a continuous index of risk to biodiversity, based on the same principles as threatened environments
39% protected (DOC)
55% privatis
ed without
a covenan
t
May 200566 leases since 1992328,350 ha affected
5% privatised with
a covenan
t
1% retained
as Special Lease
39% protected (DOC)
55% privatis
ed without
a covenan
t
May 200566 leases since 1992328,350 ha affected
5% privatised with
a covenan
t
1% retained
as Special Lease
All land allocated in Tenure Review
Threat classification for land environmentsCategory Category Criteria Category Name
1 <10% indigenous cover left
Acutely Threatened
2 10–20% left Chronically Threatened
3 20–30% left At Risk
4 >30% left and <10% protected
Critically Underprotected
5 >30% left and 10–20% protected
Underprotected
6 >30% left and >20% protected
Less Reduced and Better Protected
“THREATENED ENVIRONMENT
S”
Threat classification for land environmentsCategory Category Criteria Category Name
1 <10% indigenous cover left
Acutely Threatened
2 10–20% left Chronically Threatened
3 20–30% left At Risk
4 >30% left and <10% protected
Critically Underprotected
5 >30% left and 10–20% protected
Underprotected
6 >30% left and >20% protected
Less Reduced and Better Protected
More developable land, more threatened and less well-protected biodiversity
Assumptions
Risk to indigenous biodiversity is highest in land environments where habitats for native species
• have been much reduced in the past and /or
• are poorly protected today
Categorical spatial model of risk to biodiversity
(Threatened Environment Classification)
Original pastoral leases
Richmond Pastoral Lease
Lake
Teka
po
PRIVATISED
LEGALLY PROTECT
ED
Lake
Teka
po
Richmond Pastoral Lease
Haw
kdun
Range
Upper Manuherikia
Valley
Braeside Pastoral Lease
PRIVATISED
LEGALLY PROTECTE
D
Upper Manuherikia
Valley
Haw
kdun
Range
Braeside Pastoral Lease
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
High probability of
protection
Lowprobability of
protection%
of
ind
igen
ou
s c
over
pro
tecte
d
as p
ub
lic lan
d
% indigenous cover remaining in environments
High Risk << >> Low Risk
actual
modeled
From: Walker, Price & Stephens 2008
% p
rivati
sati
on
loss
% indigenous cover remaining in environments
High Risk << >> Low Risk
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 1000
20
40
60
80
100
0-20%20-40%
40-60%
60-80%
80-100%
Leases have retained more indigenous cover than private land
Private land
Pastoral
leases
% p
ost-
pri
vati
sati
on
cle
ara
nce
of
rem
ain
ing
in
dig
en
ou
s
cover
% indigenous cover remaining in environments
High Risk << >> Low Risk
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
other
Average % of remaining indigenous cover predicted to be cleared following
privatisation
Rogers & Reynolds (DOC unpublished data)
Assessed patterns of protection or privatisation to September 2007 (i.e. 2 more years)
39% protected (DOC)
55% privatis
ed without
a covenan
t
May 200566 leases since 1992328,350 ha affected
5% privatised with
a covenan
t
1% retained
as Special Lease
39% protected (DOC)
55% privatis
ed without
a covenan
t
May 200566 leases since 1992328,350 ha affected
5% privatised with
a covenan
t
1% retained
as Special Lease
All land allocated in Tenure Review
Gra
zing
(8%
)
43% protected (DOC)
50% privatis
ed without
a covenan
t
September 200790 leases since 1992490,500 ha affected
6% privatised with
a covenan
t
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
High probability of
protection
Lowprobability of
protection
% indigenous cover remaining in environments
High Risk << >> Low Risk
actual
modeled(prediction
)
From: Walker, Price & Stephens 2008
% o
f in
dig
en
ou
s c
over
pro
tecte
d
as p
ub
lic lan
d
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
High probability of
protection
Lowprobability of
protection
% indigenous cover remaining in environments
High Risk << >> Low Risk
Predicted based on(66 leases
to May 2005)
Actual (90 leases to
September 2007)
% o
f in
dig
en
ou
s c
over
pro
tecte
d
as p
ub
lic lan
d
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100DOC recommended for protection as public land
More developable landMore threatened biodiversity
Threat categories from the Threatened Environment Classification (Walker et al. 2007)
Data source: Department of Conservation, unpublished data for 69 of the 90 leases reviewed 1992-2007
Recommendations and achievements for significant inherent values in Tenure Review to Sept. 2007
LINZ achieved protection as public land
% o
f id
en
tifi
ed
sig
nifi
can
t in
here
nt
valu
es
<10% indigenous cover left
10–20% left 20–30% left >30% left and <10%
protected
>30% left and 10–20%
protected
>30% left and >20%
protected
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
High probability of
protection
Lowprobability of
protection
% indigenous cover remaining in environments
High Risk << >> Low Risk
modeled(to May 2005)
% protectio
n including private
covenants%
of
ind
igen
ou
s c
over
pro
tecte
d
as p
ub
lic lan
d
Part 2. The Mackenzie Basin floorEnvironment, evolution and native biodiversity traits
Changes and threats, old and new
The Mackenzie Basin floor
'Foothills' environments (Lenz Level I E)
(mainly moriane landforms)
'Plains' environments (Lenz Level I N)
(much reworked outwash)
Nationally distinctive physical characteristics1) Naturally high-stress environments (temperature, drought
& nutrients)
Extremes of cold and drought, and shallow, porous, nutrient-poor soils
2) (Almost) wholly glacially derived landforms
The Mackenzie Basin Physical characteristicsNaturally stressful environments
Extremes of cold, drought, shallow nutrient-poor soils
Nationally distinctive
Moraine
Tarns and ephemeral wetlands
(kettleholes)
Braided riverbeds & floodplains
Inland outwash surfaces and sand dunes
Distinctive evolutionary drivers
Birds (and lizards) ruled
“No where else had birds evolved to become the ecological equivalent of giraffes, kangaroos, sheep, striped
possums, long-beaked echidnas, and tigers”
(Tim Flannery, The Future Eaters)
Beak and claw - browsers, grazers, seed dispersers, understorey scratchers, pollinators….
All but fire-free
“... a bioclimatic zone, possibly unique on a global scale, which was dry, drought-prone but free of all but infrequent fire.
The anomalous result is that New Zealand possesses a suite of shrubs and trees
tolerant of dry, droughty conditions but highly sensitive to fire and slow to recover
in its wake” (McGlone 2001, NZJ Ecol)
Distinctive evolutionary drivers
Conservative animals
• Slow growth rates • Long time to maturity• Low fecundity• Long-lived
Conservative plants
Tough, cryptic and slowadapted to
low resource availability, infrequent defoliation, and bird herbivory
Unappetising (dead)
Armoured
Inaccessible
Inpenetrable
Bird legacies in the flora?
Big suite of small, endemic, cryptic, non grass herbs
(many now threatened)
No N-fixing herbs!
Weeping matipo, Myrsine divaricata Mountain wineberry, Aristotelia fruticosa
Tough and slow woody plants
Adaptations to Low resource availability
Infrequent defoliation
No weedy northern hemisphere conifers to march across the landscape
Tough and slow grassesNZ grasses in general
•Slow nutrient acquisition •Slow nutrient use
•Slow growth•Tough (high tissue density)
leaves and roots•Low in nitrogen(Craine & Lee 2004, Oecologia)
North America
New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
The ecological opposites of fast-growing, sward-forming pasture
grasses
Tall tussock research shows:•Unusually low root:shoot ratios• Small below-ground nutrient
reserves•Slow replenishment of nutrient
reserves after defoliation(Williams 1977, Meurk 1978, Payton et al. 1986, Mark
1994)
Creation of the grasslands
Clarks Junction fossil pollen trends through the Holocene (from McGlone 2001, NZ Jecol)
Beech
Grasses
Tim
e, w
arm
ing
>>
Podocarps(bird
dispersed)
Shrubs and small trees(wind, then bird dispersed)
Creation of the grasslandsconsolidation with Polynesian fire frequencies (> decades?)
Began with European settlement
Late 19th century over-enthusiasm
“exploitative pastoralism”•More frequent burning•High stocking rates•New plants
Transformation of the grasslands
O’Connor (1986) TGML Journal
Ongoing under pastoral grazing (Treskonova (1991) NZ Journal of Ecology)
Tall tussock grasslands to short tussock grasslands
then
Short tussock grasslands to degraded herbfields with much bare ground•Stature and density of the tussocks reduced
•Decreased diversity and abundance of native species
•Increase in dominance of non-native plants, especially
• Exotic sward-forming grasses,
• N-fixing herbs,
• Grazing-resistant flatweeds (esp. mouse-ear hawkweed).
Transformation of the grasslands
Major ecological shifts (post-settlement and pastoral periods)
Slow bird herbivore fauna, toboom-bust mammal fauna
Slow, stress-tolerant, fire-free, woody/shrubby vegetation with numerous cryptic non-grass herbs, tograsslands, depleted by grazing and invaded by ‘fast’ light-demanding exotic plants adapted to mammalian grazing and for rapid growth and spread– sward-forming grasses, N-fixing and resistant herbs– northern hemisphere postglacial tree “superweeds”
Recent trend:IntensificationNew open semi-natural
grasslands invaded by ‘fast’ light-demanding exotic plants
towholly exotic pasturesthrough– Oversowing and
topdressing– Irrigation– Soil cultivation & cropping
1990 2009
Converted by 1990 Converted by 1990Converted between 1990 and 2009
Extent of complete conversion
2009
Converted by 1990Converted between 1990 and 2009
Conversion 1990-2009
Oversowing & topdressing
(41%)
Soil cultivation
and/or irrigation
(50%)
ForestryUrban/ Infrastructure
Flora includes:
23% of Canterbury’s ‘Threatened’ and ‘At Risk’ plants,
and 11% of Canterbury’s ‘Data Deficient’plants
Remaining biodiversity of the Basin floor
Threatened and At Risk flora
33 species Grassland and shrublands
31 species Wetlands and their margins and turfs
Diverse, endemic, threatened
Moth, grasshopper and beetle faunas especially rich & distinctive
Invertebrates
Birds
Lowland longjaw
Upland longjaw
Bignose galaxiid
Pencil galaxiids of
the Mackenzie
Basin
Mackenzie Basin floor
2009
Converted by 1990Converted between 1990 and 2009
Proposed 2010 on…
2009 Upper Waitaki Hearing: Irrigation application areas
Southern Mackenzie Basin floor
Wairepo kettleholes – now an island
Ohau Downs outwash plain proposed for
irrigation
B: 2009
Converted by 1990
Converted between 1990 and 2009
Grays Hills
Sawdon
SimonsPass
Glenmore
Foremost remaining
opportunity
Pastoral leases in the north of the Basin
Part 3. Biodiversity protection and management
Key ecological questions for proposals
1. Will the areas that are significant be protected, and will they be large enough?
2. Is this really protection from key threats?
Will grazing be removed or reduced to enable native species persistence and recovery?
Will harmful activities be prohibited? e.g.•Oversowing and topdressing•Increased stocking rates/new stock types •Subdivision, tracking, erection of structures•Exotic tree planting•‘Scrub’ spraying
Ongoing changes (Treskonova (1991) NZ Journal of Ecology)
Tall tussock grasslands to short tussock grasslands
then
Short tussock grasslands to degraded herbfields with much bare ground•Stature and density of the tussocks reduced
•Decreased diversity and abundance of native species
•Increase in dominance of non-native plants, especially
• Exotic sward-forming grasses,
• N-fixing herbs,
• Grazing-resistant flatweeds (esp. mouse-ear hawkweed)
What’s the problem with continued grazing?
No evidence of equilibrium with pastoral grazinge.g. Connor 1964; O’Connor 1982; Treskonova 1991; Rose et al. 1995; Hunter & Scott 1997; Jensen et al. 1997; Walker et al. 2003; Walker & Lee 2000; 2002, Duncan et al. 2001, Meurk et al. 2002.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Mackenzie Basin Grazing Trial fescue tussock plots (Meurk et al. 2002)
Ben Ohau MaryburnSawdon Simons Hill
Average fescue tussock cover (%), grazed ‘control’
OUTWASH
Avera
ge %
cover 1990
2000
MORAINE
Nb. Geometric mean used here because of data are not normally distributed
MechanismsDirect
Plant foliage and seedlings are eaten, favouring
•low-growing, less palatable, more toxic/prickly plants
•those able to recover more rapidly from defoliation
Palatable plants progressively restricted or eliminated
small tussocks <- -> large tussocks small tussocks <- -> large tussocks
“LIGHT” grazing(control)
“HEAVY” grazing
Fate of snow tussock seedlingsLee, Fenner & Duncan (1993) NZJ Botany
(Szaro 1989, Huntly 1991, Fleischner 1994, Frank et al. 1998; 2002)
MechanismsDirect cont…
Selective grazing prevents regeneration & successional development
Heavy browse at favoured sites local elimination
Nutrients shifted and redeposited unevenly
Reduced vegetation vigour with gradual nutrient depletion (widespread)
Locally nutrient-enriched weed establishment sites (local)
MechanismsDirect cont…
Trampling
•creates disturbed bare ground
•destroys sensitive habitats
e.g. kettlehole turf margin, streams and flushes
FRST-funded research findings on ephemeral
wetlands and their turfs may be of interest
MechanismsDirect cont…
Grazing and trampling degrades/removes feeding and spawning habitats of native freshwater fish
Oversowing and topdressing
Reduces nutrient stress- exotic pasture grasses, legumes or other crops as seed, - the additional nutrients they require to thrive to the soil
Mackenzie District Plan indigenous vegetation clearance rules
Exemptions …This rule shall not apply to:Any [short tussock grassland/indigenous cushion or mat vegetation] where the site has been oversown, and topdressed at least three times in the last 10 years prior to new clearance so that the inter-tussock vegetation is dominated by clovers and/or exotic grasses
Oversowing and topdressing stripes at
Ohau Downs
Whole-of-government purchased SPOT-5 image 2007/08
Kettlehole tarns and ephemeral wetlands
Lake Ohau
Are the Basin’s modified grasslands resilient?
Tekapo Scientific Reserve, Mackenzie Basin 1992 to 2009
Outwash terrace (3)
Moraine fan (2)
Moraine (3)
Tekapo Scientific Reserve sampling plots1992 to 2009: significant changes
Thanks to Marta Treskonova & DOC for unpublished data
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Mackenzie Basin Grazing Trial fescue tussock plots (Meurk et al. 2002)
Ben Ohau MaryburnSawdon Simons Hill
Average fescue tussock cover (%), grazed ‘control’
OUTWASH
Avera
ge %
cover 1990
2000
MORAINE
Nb. Geometric mean used here because of data are not normally distributed
Tekapo Scientific Reserve, Mackenzie Basin 1992 to 2009
Monitoring Plot 4: Outwash terrace
1992 2009
Tekapo Scientific Reserve sampling plots1992 to 2009: significant changes
Thanks to Marta Treskonova & DOC for unpublished data
Tekapo Scientific Reserve, Mackenzie Basin 1992 to 2009
Moraine October 2009
Tekapo Scientific Reserve, Mackenzie Basin 1992 to 2009
Sampling area = 0.5% of plot area
20 m
One of eight,50 × 50 cm
permanently marked quadrats
Tekapo Scientific Reserve sampling plots1992 to 2009: significant changes
Thanks to Marta Treskonova & DOC for unpublished data
Tekapo Scientific Reserve, Mackenzie Basin 1992 to 2009
Monitoring Plot 3: Moraine Fan
That’s all!
Happy to answer questions…
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