A Paleobotanist

in South
Westland
Mikr: Pole
Introduction
Six days wcrc spellt based in thc south westlancl
iuciL of l-laast.'l'he
initial go
l was to rnakc
it taphono'ric
study of a scdinrc,tary
sysr.err where potcntial prant
nrircrofossils
wcrc bcing
prcscrvcd.
A suitablc locality was not found
but a number
o[.bscrvations
wcr.c .raclc ,l
palcobotanical
intctcsL,
atrd ltrc hclpful to nry stLrdics of thc Enrly Mi<lccnc MiurLrhcrikia
Croup
Irlolir
of CcrrU'al Ot:rgo.
Vegetation
and
Soil
Threc days wcre spcnt cxal'Ilining
the soils ancl associated vegetation
on t scries of,fossit,
sand duncs. Exarri,ation
of rlrc soirs clirecrcd
by Allan Hewir.t tlenronsuatctr
trurt the du,cs
furthest
fiom the coast hacr rhe'rost
developcd, porlsorisetl
pronles
c.*pucd
to the.rorc
coastal ones a.d are thererore co^siclercd
t<l be olcler. Thesc older dures with soils of lower
nutricnt
stat_us support forcsl. of lower cliversity
than the younger
dunes.
of pinticular
relevance
to trre Manuherikia
croup, supplejack
vi,es (Rrpogor
rrun scand.ens)
rurd sotrrc ol'the lirgest lcav es (Arisrorclia
scrrata and Grisclirtia lttcitla)uc
only present in o.
thc you,ger
soils. R.scantlcns
rras a linritccr
d.istribution
i, the Ma.uhcrikia
Gr.oup bcing
associared
with a generally
liugeJeavetl
flora including
Elaeocarpaceae
(aff.
SkturculElueocafptls),
Mytaceae (probably
Metrosidiros),
very large-leavetl
Meultlerlrcckitt,
Lauraceae,
and sor,e unkuow,
taxa, whicrr I have interpretecr
as gr.wing
u.crer elevatctl
tcllrPerattlle
and relatively
rich s<lils (Pole
1989). Trce lerns were also absert o, oltler duncs, no
rrllai tvere noted on any of the ciunes.
A nrorning w.'s spent w.lking (or
struggring)
througrr so,re swarnp lbrest
arong the north
side o[ the l:laast r{iver. The goar
of this t'ip was to see how the vegetation
crraugcJfrom
an
alluvial,
schistderived
subst|ate of the IIaast floo<lprain,
to rhe granite
clonle of Mosquito l,iill.
'l-lris
hill wus ,ot.eached
due to tinre antr thc trense n.ture
of the vegetatiou,
but granite
substrate
was encountere<l
withi, the forest.'rhe
forest floor everywhera
*u, *., witrr la-r.ge
br ics olobviously
se,ri-pcrnrancnt
watcr.'r-rre
cha,ge fio.r aluvial
to granite
subs[.te
Possibly
coincides
with a change in flora frorn kalikatea
donrinance
to one whele
si.lver beech
(Notlnfitgtu
nrcnziesii) is equa y inrportant.
Supprejack
is nrost abuncranr
on the alluviar soils
of the kahikatea
lorest edge rlearest
the river. rt is of low freque.cy
or absert in the kahikatea-
silver beech forest.
Close to the base of Moscprito
Hill the forest
canopy becarne very row,
bog
pinc appeiued,
and the.e was uruch Garuritt - grass. This is probably
a loc:tr difrcre,ce
rel'lccting
shallower
,
or gleyecl
soils.
vegetrtion
o* a granite
tronre was directly observed,rong
trre roaclside at Mt.Mcrean.
,r-he
charrge f.or, sun ou,ding alruvial sites was not dreu,irtic but karrikatea
was abse.t a,cl
sLtpplcjack
prcscnt
but not abutrdtnt.'['rcc
lcrns wele col]llton.
Further
south, along the t.ack to Lake Illrery,
tlee ferns we'e were prese't
arong the
llootlblnks
neitt'thc toad, but quickty
tlisappcalcd
as soil corrtlitious
rlc[criorarcrl
towards
tlro
"^.'i
lakc. l-argc lcavcd, G riselinia trnd. Aristotcliu wcrc pr-eseut along thc road or as epiphytcs.
Supplejack was absent. on the poorest soils on the high spots above the lake, the forest was
reduced to low-canopy dominated by rirnu, bog pine, pink pinc and celery pine.
A day was spcnt in thc kahikttea lorcst bctwccn branchcs of the Waita Rivcr. I(lhikatcn is
clonrirranl. altlrough ntatai, ntiro, rinu, P lLyLbcladar, totara (possibly including I'Iall's,
dc irt)Lid, tnd, wuiltoltcnsis) are present. Griselinia is present as epiplrytes. Supplejack ancl
trcc lirns arc con.unorl, although the forest floor, in strong contrast to the forcst north o[ thc
llaast l{ivcr, is dly, opcn, and easy to rvalk through. Its opclt nature is probably at lcast
piflially clue to pcriodic river flood evcl)ts, although cattle ffe preseut in the iuea.
'l'he
lorest
floor is covcrcd with a neLwolk of clrainagc channels, oftoll
just
a fcw centiurctlcs dcep. 1'his
systcnr ilcts nrostly to flush thc littcr llom
(hc
f0rcst floor', but was uotcd to lurvc tltick littcr
dcposits (tcns o[' ccntinrctlcs) krcally.
Taphonomy
ln thc forcst situutions, lcavcs [r'r>nr all taxa prcscnt iuc wcll rcprcscnted in thc lir|csL floor'
littcr (tlrc very surtll lcavcs lrour divaricatc sluubs were not. searched fcrr).'fhc tree fern
(Dicksonia
squttrrosa) and the podocarps; I-lall's totara, kirhikatea, rimu, ntiro and natai, all
produce abunclant litter which would be expcctecl to preservc wcll. Paniculatc inflorcscenccs
gf
kanrahi (Welrurra
ria racentosa) were observcd both on surrouncling trees and on and within the
floor litter (a ktnrahi inflorescence has bccn rccorded from tlte Manuherikia Crouir although
lcitvcs have no! yct bgcrl identiticd). Ilowcvcr', iu all thc arcirs wherc pltnt urateritl w1s
accunrulating - in thc mires and in pools within the swarnp forest, well plcserved plant n.]aterial
is present only on the surface centinretre 0r two. Beside this, leaves und shoots have decayecl
artd txtly lttudcr utatedal, such as wood, is preserved. It is clear that in these'iu situ'litter
accttnlttlatiotts, a dran)atic influx of scdiment would be necessaty to relnove litter lrom the zonc
of soil dcvclopnrcut and provide lor their krlg-teflu preservation.
Vegetation History
My work on the Ear{y Miocene Manuherikia Croup, in addition to that of other workers,
has lead me to believe that the present flora of New Zealaud, from an assemblage point of view,
is o['recent, probably Pleistocene age, ancl is an inrpoverished relict of tlre Tcrtiary flora. The
lack of thamatic changc between present rkrlas growing
on
granite
or alluviirl soils, or even
Llc[vcert tlxlse gcncrally itupoverishecl soils on the West Coast, and the rich blslltic soils
rround Dunedin, suggest that, with n lew exceptions rcccnt taxa could be accordctl'wecd'
status.
'l'hcy
iue survivofs 01'thc icc-ugcs, or perhaps non-specialiscd proclucts of rcccnt
cvolution.
-fhey
arc opporttrnists ancl piouccr types which can'stick it out' in rclugia and
quickly colonise a variety <lf sites whetr tho situatiotl iurprovcs.
Reference
I\rle, M.S.
(1989)
Macropaleobotany of the Nliocene lVlanuherikia Group of Ncrv
Zcaland. i)hD thesis, Deprrt"nrcnt of Ceology, University of Otago. Unpublishcd.