Tongariro National Park, North Island Photograph by © WWF-Canon/James W. THORSELL   New Zealand's North Island Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests   32,600 square miles (84,400 square kilometers) -- about the size of West Virginia and New Hampshire combined Critical/Endangered

· An Untamed Plateau
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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An Untamed Plateau

No force is as dominant in this ecoregion as the volcanoes. Known as the Volcanic Plateau, this ecoregion is an untamed and stunning area filled with volcanoes, domes, high lava plateaus, and lake-filled calderas (craters formed by volcanic explosions). Pumice soils, fires, and volcanic eruptions make life here challenging. But podocarps (a genus of evergreen conifers found only in the Southern Hemisphere) and hardwoods grow here, and a rich variety of animal species can be seen as well.

Special Features

New Zealand’s largest lake, Lake Taupo, lies in the center of this region, surrounded by the Volcanic Plateau. Rugged, stunted forests growing on surrounding mountainsides encircle the plateau. The slopes have been periodically covered with tephra (gravel and ash from eruptions), which has slowed soil development and prevented the nearby forests from developing into a hardwood forest. Instead, forests immediately outside the Volcanic Plateau are dominated by podocarps, which form a high canopy. Below the canopy is a dense mixture of ferns, epiphytes, and vines. As the distance from the Volcanic Plateau increases, podocarp densities decline and more broad-leaved trees can be found.

	The Maori have a complicated mythology to explain the distribution of the volcanoes in this area. They believe that mountains can move and quarrel. In their mythology, the male volcanoes of the Taupo Volcanic Zone argued over a female volcano and spread out to avoid the explosive wrath of the most powerful male suitor.

Wild Side

The forests in this ecoregion are not as biologically diverse as the coasts and lowlands, but they do offer important habitats for endemic birds such as the kokako, brown kiwi, kaka, and blue duck. Kiwis are highly distinctive flightless birds and are unusual because their nostrils are at the ends of their long, thin beaks. The blue duck, or whio, is well adapted to fast-running water. It can swim against the current, and even day-old chicks can feed in the flowing rivers. One interesting plant found in this region is the wood rose. This plant relies on a host plant for nutrients. It may be pollinated by the short-tailed bat, a rare and endemic land mammal. New Zealand’s bats are unique, because they were the only native land mammals before the arrival of the Maori (from Polynesia) and the Europeans.

Cause for Concern

Logging, non-native animals, grazing, and human settlement and development are the main threats to habitat and to native birds.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.