An ecological perspective on ‘undisturbed’ lake catchments in the Rotorua District

Abstract

There is currently concern about trends in water quality in some lakes in largely natural catchments. Various potential contributing causes are under consideration, including pest animals, such as wallabies, and pest plants. This presentation provides an overview of aspects of ecological history and processes at work in the catchments of selected lakes. By necessity, this is largely an historical analysis, but this provides important background for current trends, and also to understand landscape-level processes. The effects of potentially threatening influences, such as pest plants and animals, need to be evaluated within various contexts, including landscape history, ongoing geomorphological change, human disturbance, vegetation dynamics, and the relative contributions of natural and human-induced changes.