remote islands

Growth rates and ages of some key tree species from subantarctic Auckland and Campbell Islands

Interspecific variation in tree growth rate and maximum age is central to understanding and predicting the dynamics of forest ecosystems. While there are abundant sources of this information for economically important New Zealand timber species and other common tree species, data for trees from subantarctic environments are almost entirely lacking. Here we present measurements of growth from Auckland and Campbell Islands for three species: Metrosideros umbellata (southern rātā; Myrtaceae, n = 1 site), a canopy dominant; Dracophyllum sp.