Pedogenesis and vegetation trends in the elefulvic and eldefulvic zones of the north-east Ben Ohau Range, New Zealand : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Canterbury, Lincoln College
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Authors
Date
1976
Type
Thesis
Abstract
The Twin Stream catchment is one of several transverse valleys in the Ben Ohau Range which flows into the Tasman
River. It is approximately 44 sq km in area and is bounded by the Whale Stream in the south and the
Bush Stream in the north, with the Ben Ohau Range on the
western boundary. The catchment forms part of the 19,000
ha station of Glentanner which is run by Mr I. K. Ivey. In 1965 the Grasslands Division of the Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research established a field
station at 800 m. Since then a further field station has
been located at 1,400 m. These two field stations form
the focal point for plant and ecological studies into the
mid and high altitude grasslands. Reasons for the selection of Twin Stream and purpose
of present study are:
i) The area is located on a precipitation gradient
between the humid and per-humid zones (1,500 - 3,000 m).
This enables the study of the varying effects of
moisture on the soils and vegetation within a relatively
small area.
ii) The area includes a set of well preserved ground
surface of different ages and altitudes. iii) Access is relatively easy to mid-altitude by
landrover tracks.
The growing pressures on the demands of marginal
lands for pastoralism, forestry, recreation and water
resources have resulted in a land-use conflict which can
only be resolved by the compilation and interpretation
of land resource data and subsequent classification of
land into its various uses in accordance with scientific
findings.
At present the widely used system of land use
capability classification is based upon very meagre basic
land resource data and in many instances information upon
soils and vegetation is almost completely lacking. This
applies particularly to extensive areas of mountainous
terrain which are grouped under broad land use capability
classes of VII, VIII even though they are very different
in terms of erosion, revegetation potential, yield and
quality of water.
The overall purpose of this project therefore is to
study the natural process which influence and control the
development of soils and vegetation in the sub-alpine and
the alpine zones of the Twin Stream catchment with the
view of contributing more quantitative resource data from
which reliable interpretations and evaluations can be
made.
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