Warrenheip and Maungatautari
Warrenheip is a private reserve (16 ha) on the mainland, owned by David Wallace and Juliette Chamberlain. The reserve is completely free of mammalian pests and predators (a rarity in New Zealand!), and as such Warrenheip is a small 'mainland island'. It is the site of the development (and success!) of the XcluderTM pest proof fence.
In 1999, a pest proof fence was constructed around the valley, and by October 2000 rats, cats, stoats, ferrets, possums, rabbits, hares, and hedgehogs were eradicated. A small area of less than 600m2 appeared to still have mice, but these were subsequently removed. Over a four-year period (1996 - 2000), 45,000 native trees were planted, and large volumes of exotic weeds were removed from the reserve. Exotic (introduced) plants, birds, and invertebrates are still present inside the reserve, but ecological processes can proceed unhindered by the introduced mammals that populate mainland New Zealand.
EcoQuest students have been involved in studies of flora and fauna in the reserve since the fence was first completed and all mammals were removed from within the reserve. Students monitor and document changes over time, following the removal of mammals and the active management and revegetation of the reserve.
In the past 3 years, several endangered species have been translocated to the reserve, including kiwi, giant weta and pateke (brown teal), EcoQuest students have been involved in the reintroductions and monitoring of these organisms at Warrenheip.
Maungatautari is a 5000 ha volcanic peak covered in indigenous forest and surrounded by farmland. The mountain has significant cultural and conservation values. The Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust has undertaken to start a a project to fence off the remaining forest on the mountain using the XcluderTM fence. This is an ambitious project that will involve 50km of fencing, with only two access points for the public. If eradication of mammalian pests and predators is successful, this will be the largest mammal-free "island" on the New Zealand mainland. There is huge potential for reintroduction of endangered species, both flora and fauna.
Several students worked on documenting views of local iwi on the proposed fence at Maungatautari. Baseline studies of both flora and fauna were carried out by EcoQuest students on Maungatautari and on nearby Pirongia (another forested volcanic cone) as a control site. The aims of the project were to contribute to the knowledge of the state of the vegetation and invertebrate fauna prior to the construction of the fence and eradication of the pests, an they worked on keeping mammalian pests such as rats out of waterways..
Two pest-proof cells have been constructed, one on the north- and one on the south side of the mountain. Eradication of mammalian predators has been carried out inside these cells in late 2004 and early 2005. In 2004 and 2005, EcoQuest students carried out Directed Research Projects on the maunga (mountain), investigating and documenting the structure of both vegetation and invertebrate communities, diversity of aquatic invertebrates, as well as the distribution and abundance of Hochstetter's frogs.
