Journal
NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF BOTANY
Volume 50, Issue 4, Pages 411-421Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/0028825X.2012.724428
Keywords
New Zealand; kauri; Araucariaceae; ecosystem engineer; soil chemistry
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Funding
- University of Auckland
- Auckland Botanical Society
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The considerable influence kauri (Agathis australis) exerts on its soil environment has been implicated in explaining the floristic associations with kauri stands. Using a shadehouse experiment, this study assesses this hypothesis by comparing the influence of soils under kauri and adjacent broadleaved forest on the growth and nitrogen status of five forest plant species of varying levels of association with kauri. I found a negative effect of kauri soils on the growth of mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus, typically absent beneath kauri) and rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum, distribution independent of kauri), compared with their growth in broadleaved forest soils, but a neutral effect of soil type on the growth of korokio (Corokia buddleioides, kauri associate species), kauri seedlings and hangehange (Geniostoma ligustrifolium var. ligustrifolium, kauri-independent species). There was no effect of soil type on leaf nitrogen concentration. The results are consistent with a link between kauri-induced soil conditions and plant community composition.
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