ENHS Nature Trails May 2002 Article 2

Natural History and You - The President's Forum
by Dave Wagner

A few weeks ago I returned from New Zealand where my wife and I had spent a little over two weeks driving around and exploring that fascinating country. We spent all our time on the south island, about the same latitude south as Oregon is north. One of the things which struck us was how much of what we saw was familiar. And most of that which was familiar didn't really belong!

New Zealand is a country that has been settled by Europeans in the last century and a half. Much like our own country, that means much of its landscape has been permanently altered. All the beautiful, pastoral scenes with sheep were originally covered with dense forests. There are extensive wild areas only along the west coast where the rain forests have never been amenable to clearing and settlement.

When we would walk along the trails, I saw one of my old friends from our home garden: the weedy liverwort, Lunularia cruciata. This liverwort is not native to Oregon; it was introduced here from Europe. Just as it is now growing all over Eugene, it is now growing in almost every place we stopped in New Zealand. It was along the paths in every Scenic Reserve and every National Park walkway.

In the gardens and along roadsides were lots of temperate weeds that gave an eerie sense of familiarity. They were familiar, but they didn't belong. Although the New Zealanders have taken advantage of their flora, their gardens have about as many native plants as those in our neighborhood. Roses from England are as popular there as they are here. Petunias and begonias are equally prominent.

The most common birds in the towns are Starlings, followed by House Sparrows. The native birds are mostly shy forest creatures, excepting the Fantail, which is the friendliest wild bird I've ever encountered. As with many island fauna, New Zealand has lost many native birds, especially the ground-nesting ones, because there are not any native predators. Rats and stoats (weasel-like animals) have taken a deadly toll.

In fact, New Zealand has only three native mammals: three species of bats and one is already extinct. All other mammals are introduced. Red deer and mountain goats from the himalayas--thar--became so common in the mountains that professional hunters were once hired to reduce their numbers. Now they are trapped and raised on farms.

The most curious of all is the possum. The animal referred to here is not the American opossum but another marsupial native to Australia. It was introduced in the late 1800's to supply the fur trade. When the fur market declined in the 1980's, this animal proliferated dramatically to the extent it is a serious threat to the native forests. We were told that the possums eat over 20,000 tons of leafy material EVERY NIGHT! Large expanses of forest have been denuded. Their abundance is noted by road kill. One morning we counted over 50 in and along the roadside, more than one every two miles!

An example that what is common or familiar in New Zealand may be as much a stranger as the visitor.

Dave Wagner

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