The Green Room
I work as a teacher, so I often refer to your KCC website when I need some inspiration for the kids. On it I discovered the difference between endemic and native.
http://www.kcc.org.nz/glossary.asp
I'm unsure as to when and how a species is classified as native though. Is it once they have an established population? Can a native species become endemic i.e, if they become so adapted to our environment that they become a new species unto themselves? Are there any examples of this?
Hi Kim. I think a species counts as a native if it establishes itself in New Zealand by itself ie without human assistance. The silvereye is a NZ native even though it established here in the mid 1800s from Australia possible because human forest clearance in NZ and maybe cultivation/orchards offered a range of niches that silvereye like that weren't here pre-human when sulvereye probably also blew across the Tasman but didn't establish here.
Where it gets interesting is if after many generations of silvereyes breeding in NZ, the NZ silvereye becomes genetically different from the Australian silvereyes. If this happens it would then be an endemic species ie not found anywhere else.
Both our white heron and white faced herons are native but not endemic species. The pied fantail on the other hand is native and it is an endemic species because it shows distinct genetic variation from the Grey fantail of eastern Australia that looks similar but is now distiinctly different.
It doesn't make the white heron or white faced heron any less special to NZers.
A really puzzling one is the black swan. I had always known that these were introduced by humans to NZ in the 1800s so they are not native. We had a native swan but it became extinct in pre -European times. Recently DNA testing of NZ black swan and the extinct swan I understand has shown that they are identical. In other words when we introduced the black swan from Australia, we were actually re-introducing a native bird that had become extinct in NZ.
I'd be delighted if anyone else can shed any light on this black swan story.
I heard that silvereyes were introduced to NZ in the rigging of sailing ships from Australia, so that would count as human assistance if that was true.
Interesting. Now, here's one for you all - is the British bumble bee endemic to NZ given that is it now only found here (well up until a few days ago) -
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10575865
It's like all those thar wrecking the high country vegetation - those opposed to their culling say they are endangered in their native Himalayas. Well if they want 'em, they're welcome to take 'em right back where they came from!
And we won't even get started about the wallabies on Kawau, or their Australian-connection and return!!
But unfortunately sending them back to where they originated and dealing to the rest still here is no easy or quick thing Helen...
Can anyone update us about the Kawau wallaby situation in 2009?
Just because something isn't native doesn't mean it should go 'home' though, does it?
Otherwise all us humans better start packing our bags :)
bring back the moas and the haast eagle its the only way.
Humans need some serious culling a 1080 drop on the speights brewery should get a few including me lol.
i admit i love watching hares before the cullers shoot them all !
Those eagles would be something to see. An ecosystem without a top predator is missing something - neat to see grizzlys and wolves being reintroduced in parts of North America.
The native thing is interesting though - I don't mind seeing most introduced animals here - well, the herbivores at least (I ama hunter). Provided the herbivores are in balance with the herbs :-) I think that is the view of most people too. It's just a matter of finding that balance.
Kim, Your question which started this thread came to mind when I was reading the latest comments on the blog - about different bird spp being native or not (and therefore eligible for F&B Bird of the Year competition).
Here's the comments (so you don't have to wade through all the blog entries)...
http://blog.forestandbird.org.nz/a-hard-act-to-swallow/#comment-30518
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