temperature

Thermal and physical characteristics of the nesting habitat of New Zealand’s only endemic oviparous lizard

Nest characteristics and nest-site choice determine fitness outcomes for reptile embryos and resulting hatchlings. Little is known about the nesting of Oligosoma suteri, New Zealand’s only egg-laying lizard. We investigated the physical and thermal environment of nests and available microhabitats, including nest-like sites, with the aim of applying this information to future search efforts and translocation plans. Nests of O.

How elevation affects ship rat (Rattus rattus) capture patterns, Mt Misery, New Zealand

There is a lack of information about how elevation affects the distribution of ship rats in New Zealand. In this study, ship rats (Rattus rattus) were captured in traps set along a 2 km elevational transect (455–1585 m a.s.l.) in beech (Nothofagaceae) forest and adjacent alpine tussock at Mt Misery, in Nelson Lakes National Park, from 1974 to 1993. A total of 118 rats were captured.

Thermal environment of New Zealand’s gradual and abrupt treeline ecotones

In New Zealand, there are treelines of two main forms: abrupt southern beech treelines and gradual conifer–broadleaved treelines. At similar latitudes, abrupt treelines form at higher elevation than gradual treelines, but it is unclear whether this difference is also reflected in the climatic conditions experienced at the contrasting treeline ecotones. In this study, we measured soil and air temperatures across four gradual and two abrupt treelines ecotones in New Zealand for 2 years, and compared the climatic conditions between the treeline forms.