1) Kauri is an ancient conifer species dating back to the time of the dinosaurs that is found primarily in New Zealand. 2) Individual kauri trees are extremely large, old, and productive, storing vast amounts of carbon and creating deep, nutrient-poor soils. 3) Kauri forests have exceptionally high biodiversity and biomass compared to other forest types, making them a foundation species, though the kauri is now threatened by disease.

1. Kauri – Natural Ecology of an
Extreme Species
Bruce Burns
University of Auckland

2. Kauri ecologists
Ian Barton
John Ogden
Warwick Silvester

3. Kauri is threatened by Phytophthora
‘taxon Agathis’ dieback but..
What’s so special about kauri?

4. Kauri is threatened by Phytophthora
‘taxon Agathis’ dieback but..
What’s so special about kauri?
• Ancient lineage
• Biologically extreme
• Foundation species creating diverse forests
• High forestry value in the past and potential for
the future
• Value as flagship species

5. Ancient lineage
• Member of Araucariaceae
– contemporaries of dinosaurs
• Once global, now only in Southern Hemisphere
• Includes monkey puzzle, Norfolk Island pine,
Queensland kauri, and Wollemia nobilis
Araucaria araucana Wollemia nobilisAgathis robusta

6. Extremely…
• BIG
Tāne Mahuta
4.4m diameter and 51m tall
Kairaru reliably recorded last
century near Waipoua
6.4m diameter
Twice the volume of Tāne
Mahuta
3rd largest conifer in world

7. Extremely…
• old
– Typical life expectancy of
around 600 years
– Oldest published estimate of
age (from cored tree) = 1679
years

8. Importance as palaeohistoric
archive
• Kauri chronology now extends back
3631 years (Boswijk et al. 2006)
• High quality palaeoclimatic proxy
• Sensitive to El Niño events
• Also used to calibrate radiocarbon
dating.
• Recently used to revise date of Taupo
eruption (232±5 AD)
(Fowler et al. 2012)

9. Extremely…
• high forest biomass
and productivity
– Basal areas up to 127
m2ha-1 (mean 84)
– Height 30-50m,
occasionally 60 m
– Stores vast amounts of
carbon

10. Basalarea(m
2
/ha)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Global forests (n = 892) Kauri forests (n = 25)
Basal
Area
(Huston and Wolverton 2009,
Ahmed and Ogden 1987)

11. Extremely…
• strange effects on soils
– Huge accumulation of
litter around trees
– Slow decomposition
rates
– Creates deep organic
soil:
• acidic,
• low available N,
• drought-prone
(Silvester and Orchard 1999)

12. Broadleaved canopy species
Agathis australis
↓H2O
pH ~ 6
NO3-
NH4+
pH ~ 4
NO3-
NH4+Sarah Wyse

14. Extremely high diversity…
Location Vascular plant species richness per 0.04 ha plot
Waipoua Kauri Forest 24 -70 (mean = 52)
Central North Island 28-51
Beech Forest (upper NI and SI) 30-40
Central Westland 24-37
Dunedin ~24
Fiordland 20-40
(Burns 1995)
‘Kauri forest is generally regarded as the most
diverse forest community in New Zealand.’
(Ogden 1995)

15. Forester’s dream tree
• High volume of wood per tree
• Uniform trunk dimensions - little
taper to trunk, cylindrical
• Branch shedding - branches fall off
as tree grows leaving a clean bole
(no knots)
• wood quality - excellent strength,
workability and finishing properties,
highly versatile

16. Timber!!!
• Timber industry from
1840-late 1930's
• Kauri the principal
building timber in New
Zealand until 1920’s
• Huge amount of timber
removed
• 1-3% old growth forest
remains

17. 6-year-old kauri at Te Puna
on old kiwifruit orchard
mean: 5.7 m tall,
10.2 cm dbh
elite: 6.7 m tall,
12.8 cm dbh
High silvicultural potential
on suitable sites
Timber tree of the future?
(Steward and Barton 2003)

18. Kauri as a flagship species

19. Value as flagship species
• Stands of gigantic trees are awe-inspiring
• Major tourist attractions
• Creates ‘sense of place’ and cultural identity
for people of northern NZ
• Flagship species for forest conservation in NZ

20. Kauri – an extreme species and extremely important!