plant establishment

The flora and vegetation of the four high domes of Mt Tarawera; Ruawahia, Tarawera, Wahanga and Plateau. are described, and successional rates and trends determined at some sites by comparing 1964 and present-day photographs and records. Although below the regional tree limit, the dome tops are dominated by scattered low shrubs, herbs, grasses, mosses and lichens. With increasing distance from the 1886 eruption craters vegetation com- plexity and rates of succession increase. Plateau dome vegetation is successionally the most advanced.

Vegetation succession on Mt Tarawera, Rotorua, New Zealand, a recently erupted volcano, was studied. Field data from 70 plots were collected and analysed by a clustering algorithm. The plots formed an altitudinal and successional series which included bare scoria, herbfield, mixed hardwood, scrub, kamahi forest and tawa forest. Because of the differential effects of the 1886 eruption, different successional trends are being followed on the north-west and south-east faces of the mountain.