Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 15.2
Representation of
biogeographic units in high value sites
selected using national and regional
rankings of conservation priority.
Biogeographic units having greater than
20% representation in high value sites
are shown in bold.
Percentage of
network
Average
condition
Representation
(%)
Biogeographic unit
Auckland
1.16
0.331
3.75
Banks Peninsula
0.38
0.253
3.58
Bay of Plenty
2.69
0.239
2.21
Canterbury
11.47
0.395
11.51
Clutha
7.89
0.459
7.10
Coromandel
0.91
0.580
15.66
East Cape
6.27
0.472
6.18
Fiordland
2.89
0.764
20.67
Grey-Buller
3.87
0.578
3.99
Hawkes Bay
2.59
0.416
3.83
Manawatu-Wairarapa
4.92
0.325
4.77
Marlborough
4.62
0.533
7.67
Mokau
2.21
0.410
4.29
Motueka-Nelson
1.46
0.465
7.66
Northland - eastern
1.60
0.390
12.69
Northland - northern
0.40
0.415
34.45
Northland - western
3.33
0.359
4.45
Northwest
Nelson-Paparoa
2.56
0.698
13.23
Otago Peninsula
0.10
0.291
0.62
Palliser-Kidnappers
1.89
0.316
4.16
Southland
8.27
0.377
5.50
Stewart Island
0.65
0.974
25.09
Taieri
2.88
0.335
16.23
Taranaki
0.94
0.292
3.90
Waikato
6.74
0.269
4.89
Waitaki
5.07
0.453
5.89
Wanganui-Rangitikei
6.63
0.415
4.98
Wellington
0.52
0.424
8.25
Westland
5.09
0.716
23.75
South Island (Westland, Fiordland, Stewart Island).
The rivers and streams in these units have generally
been much less modified by human activity than
in the drier climates predominating in much of the
rest of New Zealand, and many have extensive legal
protection.
example, on the technical side, issues around
surrogacy were addressed using a data-driven
statistical procedure to define a river environments
classification that was tuned explicitly to maximize
its ability to discriminate biological patterns. By
contrast, in attempting to include estimates of the
impacts of multiple stressors, a lack of sufficient
data describing these impacts forced reliance on
expert opinion in defining relationships between
pressures and ecological integrity, an approach
similar to that used in several other recent
studies (Nel
et al
., 2009a). Having assembled
the most robust available data, the ranking of
planning units for their ability to contribute to
the representative protection of riverine ecosystems
Discussion
In broad terms, this analysis highlights several of
the challenges and compromises, both technical
and practical, which are inherent in trying to
implement a consistent and systematic approach
to the conservation of riverine ecosystems. For
