The Present Vegetation of Arthur's Pass (New Zealand) as Compared with that of Thirty-Four Years Ago
1932; Wiley; Volume: 20; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/2256079
ISSN1365-2745
AutoresLeonard Cockayne, J. W. Calder,
Tópico(s)Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
ResumoARTHUR'S PASS is a rather narrow saddle at an altitude of 930 m., situated in the Southern Alps between the lofty masses of Mt Rolleston (2257 m.) and Temple Peak (2000 m.) at about latitude 430 S. The pass is bisected by the high road which leads from the Canterbury Plain to the west coast and passes through the famous Otira Gorge, so that its beautiful expanse of wild flowers is well known to the general public. From the standpoint of our paper, this road is of particular importance as forming a definite startingpoint for dividing the plant covering of the pass into distinct sections; while the road itself forms a new edaphic habitat for plant colonisation. In the early nineties of last century a considerable part of the vegetation was burned by those engaged in making the survey for the Midland Railway. Thanks to the nature of the plant life and to the extremely wet climate the ground, laid bare by the fire, became rather rapidly reclothed with plants, so that by the summer of 1897-8 there were many new successions, some of which might easily have been mistaken for primeval. There were also many
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