Recent colonisation byNothofagus fuscaat Cass, Canterbury

Abstract

Dispersal of seeds by wind, from a source at least 2.5 km distant, on the north bank of the Waimakariri River, is invoked to explain recent colonisation by Nothofagus fusca at Corner Knob, Cass, on the south bank of the river. Periodic seed dispersal to the site, and establishment of N. fusca trees, has been occurring for about the last 60–80 years. The site is clad mainly in mixed scrub in which Leptospermum scoparium is very prominent. Also colonising the site (and nearby similar sites) is Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides. Probably most of the seeds from which the original N. solandri trees grew were derived from stands on adjacent mountain slopes 1.0 km or more distant.