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https://theconversation.com/loss-of-forests-brought-new-birds-to-nz-during-the-last-ice-age-were-witnessing-a-similar-process-now-248523>
"When people arrived on the shores of Aotearoa New Zealand and began to turn
the land to their needs, they set in motion great changes.
The landscape of today bears little resemblance to that of a mere thousand
years ago. More than 70% of forest cover has been lost since human arrival.
Native bush has been replaced by tussocks, scrublands and, most of all, open
agricultural land.
These changes affected our birdlife dramatically. Some species, like the moa,
were simply hunted to extinction. Others fell directly to mammalian predators.
Many species were victims of severe habitat destruction. The loss of suitable
habitat remains a key conservation challenge to this day.
However, a changing distribution of plants is not a uniquely modern feature.
New Zealand has seen equally radical shifts in habitat before – during the Ice
Age, which lasted 2.6 million years and ended about 12,000 years ago.
At its height, parts of the country were up to 6°C colder than today, and
glacial ice sheets spread wide fingers across the Southern Alps. The dry, cold
climate resulted in widespread grass and scrubland. Forest cover became patchy
everywhere except for the northern North Island.
Our new research tracks how bird life responded to these changes – in
particular how exotic species took advantage of the shifting landscapes to make
New Zealand home."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
