habitat enhancement

The main drivers of lizard population declines in Aotearoa New Zealand are habitat loss and introduced predators. Therefore, habitat enhancement could be useful for mitigating declines, but there is little information on how Aotearoa’s lizards respond to these interventions. We examined whether novel habitats created by ten c. 375 m3 constructed rock piles would be used by McCann’s skinks (Oligosoma maccani), southern grass skinks (O. aff. polychroma Clade 5), and kōrero geckos (Woodworthia “Otago/Southland large”).

More than 600 community environmental groups across New Zealand are engaged in restoring degraded sites and improving and protecting habitat for native species. In the face of ongoing biodiversity declines, resource management agencies are increasing their reliance on these groups to enhance conservation outcomes nationally. However, little is known about community groups and their activities beyond local or regional studies.

We evaluated willow removal as a technique for enhancing habitat for birds of braided rivers by monitoring five bird species at three sites in the Mackenzie Basin, New Zealand, from 1991 to 1994 Four species—banded dotterel (Charadrius bicinctus), pied stilt (Himantopus novaezelandiae), black- fronted tern (Sterna albostriata) and South Island pied oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) used the areas of riverbed cleared of willows for nesting and foraging, at the same or greater density than other areas of riverbed already free from willows.