Forest growth patterns

Forest growth patterns

Kauri forest is a mosaic made of patches of trees, each at a different stage of maturity, as this photograph of a Coromandel forest shows. First, kauri seedlings become established in the scrub on ridge-tops and other sites. Once the first crop of kauri matures, more seedlings grow in the gaps caused by falling trees. This growth pattern occurs over hundreds of years, and is part of a long cycle of regeneration triggered by disturbances such as gales or landslides that destroy existing forest.