Question

What is the means of isolated fragments?

Answer 1

Fragmenting the Waikato

When people arrived in the Waikato it was probably almost entirely covered by a few huge blocks of native forest.

Today, these have been broken up into 4945 individual blocks of native forest, which together cover just 20 percent of the Region. Over 4000 of these forest blocks are small patches (less than 25 ha). They are scattered in pockets across developed land and are isolated by land cover that is not suitable for many native animals to live in and dangerous for them to travel through.

Find out more in our Extent of Native Vegetation and Forest Fragmentation indicators.

How isolation affects fragments

As patches of forest are cleared, the remaining blocks become further and further apart. When habitats become isolated by pasture or other land use, it is harder for native animals to find enough food, particularly year-round food. They may also struggle to find a mate to breed with.

Animals that live in small, isolated forest patches are forced to move between fragments in their search for food and mates. Native plants also need to spread their seeds across open areas to find other suitable places to grow.

Some species can successfully move or send their seeds across large areas of farmland or urban areas. Long-ranging birds such as tui and kereru can move between fragments spread over a wide area. They may carry the seeds of trees such as kahikatea and puriri with them.