Rare carnivorous plant found in Hauraki region
15 May, 2021 01:24 AM
3 minutes to read
A survey of threatened plants at Whangamarino has uncovered an exciting find for Waikato botanists. Photo / DoC
A survey of threatened plants at Whangamarino has uncovered an exciting find for Waikato botanists. Photo / DoC
Bay of Plenty Times
A survey of rare plants has been completed at Waikato s internationally significant Whangamarino Wetland, with excitement over the rediscovery of a seldom-found carnivorous species.
It s been more than a decade since threatened plants have been surveyed at Whangamarino Wetland, with the last survey undertaken in 2009.
Covering almost 7000 ha in the Waikato, Whangamarino is the second-largest freshwater wetland in the North Island and one of three Ramsar (internationally significant) wetlands in the Department of Conservation s (DoC) Hauraki-Waikato-Taranaki region.
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Whangamarino threatened plant survey uncovers exciting find for Waikato botanists
It’s been more than a decade since threatened plants have been surveyed at Whangamarino Wetland, with the last survey undertaken in 2009.
Covering almost 7,000 ha in the Waikato, Whangamarino is the second largest freshwater wetland in the North Island and is one of three RAMSAR wetlands in the DOC Hauraki-Waikato-Taranaki region.
Waikato District Biodiversity Rangers Lizzie Sharp and Kerry Jones, and plant expert Britta Deichmann, waded into the boggy wetland for 12 days between the months of September 2020 and April 2021, searching for botanical treasures.
“We were particularly excited when we found Utricularia australis or yellow bladderwort, an aquatic carnivorous plant,” says Lizzie Sharp.
Seeing dead gannets along the Kāwhia coastline isn’t unusual, though it may be a troubling sight for locals, Waikato senior ranger bio-diversity Nigel Binks said. “Just off the west coast we’ve got an island called Gannet Island, and it’s the most substantial gannet breeding colony in the country,” Binks said.
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With its 1.8 m wing-span, the Australasian gannet is a conspicuous, predominantly white seabird that is common in New Zealand coastal waters (File Photo). “Last week, unfortunately, we had 10-metre swells. “What we suspect is that the swells flushed the breeding colony and knocked young birds out of those nests, and that’s why so many of those young birds have washed up to shore a couple of days later.”
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