Evidence for arrested successional processes after fire in the Waikare River catchment, Te Urewera
Anthropogenic fire has transformed New Zealand’s vegetation. Small-scale historical Māori fires in the forests of Te Urewera National Park, North Island, initiated forest successions that were dominated early on by Kunzea ericoides (Myrtaceae), and later by Knightia excelsa (Proteaceae) and Weinmannia racemosa (Cunoniaceae). Previous work in these forests suggested that the more recent of these successions, initiated after the arrival of deer in the late 19th century, have failed to recover to pre-fire composition and structure.