I travelled down to Queenstown, on New Zealand's south island, last month. It's a fantastically beautiful place - glacial lakes, pristine rivers, staggeringly spectacular mountains, and more
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And not just the flora, obviously. In a land with no native mammals (well, OK, there are bats, but since when have bats ever amounted to anything?), I'm sure things like flightless parrots must've seemed like a good idea at the time ... likewise the tuatara (cue userpic), now marginalised to the offshore islands.
I don't want to downplay the impact of invasive animal species, but I wanted to focus on the plants just becase I feel like they command less attention.
And also because I've seen the battles in South Australia (which is more fragile than many other areas because of minimal topsoil and aridity/salinity) and had a nice comparison point.
Also also, because Australian and New Zealand are, so far as I can tell, equally at risk from invading animals, but NZ seems far more fragile for plants.
Yeah, I was in NZ not too long ago, and the amount of invasive species (like the yellow gorse-type stuff, whose name I have forgotten) was rather sobering.
And that was planted deliberately, apparently, by someone who wanted a bit more colour in their landscapes.
That yellow gorse-type stuff would be ... gorse :D
For colour, yeah, and apparently because it was used for hedging in ... Scotland, maybe? But it grew like wildfire here. Forget hedging, it'd soon cover your whole field!
Gorse still exists as fencing in places in the south island - but farmers do work hard to replace it as they can afford it as it is so invasive.
But paradoxically, gorse has also proven to be a benefit in some environments (compared to say pine trees or lupins). The gorse does not make the soil as toxic as some other invaders and so native plants can survive within it - eventually growing through and reestablishing a native nominated bush. As long as the possums don't eat the natives first. Go figure.
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I don't want to downplay the impact of invasive animal species, but I wanted to focus on the plants just becase I feel like they command less attention.
And also because I've seen the battles in South Australia (which is more fragile than many other areas because of minimal topsoil and aridity/salinity) and had a nice comparison point.
Also also, because Australian and New Zealand are, so far as I can tell, equally at risk from invading animals, but NZ seems far more fragile for plants.
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And that was planted deliberately, apparently, by someone who wanted a bit more colour in their landscapes.
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For colour, yeah, and apparently because it was used for hedging in ... Scotland, maybe? But it grew like wildfire here. Forget hedging, it'd soon cover your whole field!
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Our guide was telling us about how hard it is to eradicate, and the seeds can stay in the soil for years. It all seemed pretty dire.
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But paradoxically, gorse has also proven to be a benefit in some environments (compared to say pine trees or lupins). The gorse does not make the soil as toxic as some other invaders and so native plants can survive within it - eventually growing through and reestablishing a native nominated bush. As long as the possums don't eat the natives first. Go figure.
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