Effects of possums and rats on seedling establishment at two forest sites in New Zealand
Introduced rodents and possums in New Zealand eat flowers, fruits, seeds and seedlings, but little is known about their impact on forest regeneration. We investigated seedling establishment in exclosures with mesh of two different sizes to exclude (1) possums and (2) possums and rats, at two mainland forest sites (beechpodocarpbroadleaved and second-growth broadleavedpodocarp) near Dunedin. We recorded all new woody seedlings that established over the next 2 years.