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This report produces a map that is the first to cover the whole Cape Rodney to Okakari Point Marine Reserve (approximately 500 ha.) and adjacent areas since the initial survey by Ayling (1975-1979). Survey methods included side scan sonar, drop-down video, aerial photographs, scuba and snorkelling. The author submits that the analysis and comparison of this new habitat map with the one done by Ayling, shows great variations after 30 years of protection: an increase of the Ecklonia forest higher than 30% and a decrease close to the same percentage for the urchin barrens within the reserve. Habitats outside the reserve don’t show any significant difference. These results support the habitat surveys done at smaller scales aswell as those on populations of snapper, crayfish, kina and Ecklonia done since the creation of the reserve, and are related to what is called “top-down regulation” or “trophic cascade”.
This report records extensions and updates of the habitat maps of the marine area at Mimiwhangata Marine Park and Paparahi Point, northen New Zealand, completed in 1973 and 1981. Areas of seafloor were surveyed using a combination of remote operated vehicle drop video, and side-scan and single-beam sonar techniques. Aerial photographs were used to map shallow habitats and to assess historical changes in the distribution and extent of algal forest. A map of physical and biological habitats was produced covering an area of approximately 8700 ha. A significant finding was that extensive long-term habitat change has occurred in the shallow rock reef habitats at Mimiwhangata. The past history of scientific study at Mimiwhangata coupled with the variety of habitats and diversity of marine life present suggest that Mimiwhangata is an ideal candidate site for greater marine protection and further scientific inquiry.
This report is the product from a habitat investigation of the Doubtless Bay area completed in April - June 2005. The authors conclude that the marine habitats of Doubtless Bay are typical of those generally on the Northland east coast, but the large area of low reef in the central part of the Bay is a special feature which may have value as a nursery area for fish. The extensive occurrence of kina barrens suggests that snapper and crayfish have been seriously depleted. The authors recommended that the report and maps should be used widely to promote awareness within the community of the marine values of Doubtless Bay, and to foster moves toward improved management including establishment of marine protected areas and marine reserves as the central core of any restoration programme. Monitoring at a few key sites could involve the local community. The complexity and diversity of habitats represented in Doubtless Bay suggest that the area is an ideal candidate site for some form of marine protection.
A selection of aerial photographs, habitat maps and bathymetry maps of Doubtless Bay, Northland.
This document contains a descriptions of several aspects of the ecology and history of the Three Kings Islands. It discusses the human history of the islands, the abundance of marine and land inhabitants.
This report was a result of the Department of Conservation requesting an assessment of the potential effects of Pacific oyster farms on populations of estuarine birds. This report is the culmination of a collaborative study by the Northland Polytechnic and Department of Conservation primarily at Houhora Harbour during the period 1994-99, together with supplementary data collected in 2004. It describes numbers and behaviour of coastal bird species in and around the oyster farm in that harbour and evaluates the implications of further oyster farming proposals for this and other harbours.
This report was commissioned in anticipation of a review by Northland Regional Council of the management of Whangarei Harbour as the Council was proposing to reclassify a substantial part of the harbour as a “Marine 1 Management Area”. Wildland Consultants Ltd were commissioned to carry out a rapid survey of the distribution(s) of bird species and their habitats in Whangarei Harbour. This report summarises the findings of that survey.
This leaflet aims to inform the parties engaged in the debate over mangrove control, rather than support one side or another. It includes facts about mangroves, attempting to resolve some apparent confusion. It also discusses the consequences of proposed courses of action and the likelihood of achieving those goals.
This report was the product of a desktop literature review which was carried out for the Department of Conservation by NIWA, collating and summarising the available information on the ecological and natural features of the Northland region, to assist with decision making on a potential marine protected area network for the region. The review aims to provide an integrated description and assessment of the regions ecological values and condition, within which information gaps are identified, so they can could be used as an underpinning information document for the potential establishment of a marine protected area network.
This report records four hundred and fifty-two species of marine fauna from Parengarenga, New Zealand’s northernmost harbour. The authors found the fauna in Parengarenga’s subtidal channels exhibits a zonation corresponding to decreasing salinity and wave exposure from the harbour mouth to the headwaters. The intertidal flats are dominated by Zostera seagrass meadows with smaller areas of bare quartz sand near the harbour entrance. Around the upper reaches of the harbour there is said to be extensive mangrove forest between mid and high tide levels, with salt marsh and minor salt meadow mostly above mean high tide. Extensive areas of intertidal Zostera-covered quartz sand flats bathed in clear, warm water and periodically influenced by eddies from the East Auckland Current provide an unusual habitat for New Zealand. It is home to low numbers of subtropical gastropods, seldom seen intertidally or on sand elsewhere in the country.
