New Zealand History II – Impacts of Settlement

This set covers the ecological impacts of Māori and European settlement in New Zealand, focusing on habitat loss, predator introduction, and specific species extinctions.

Apterygiformes

The endemic order of New Zealand birds consisting of five species of Kiwi.

Dinornithiformes

The endemic order of New Zealand birds consisting of nine species of Moa, all of which are now extinct.

Gigantism

A distinctive feature of pre-human New Zealand fauna, exemplified by species like the $15\,kg$ New Zealand eagle ($Aquila\,moorei$).

Flightlessness

A common trait among pre-human New Zealand bird species, including the moa, kiwi, adzebill, and kakapo.

Naivety

A characteristic of indigenous New Zealand species that had never encountered humans, leaving them vulnerable to predation and hunting.

Archaic period

The initial phase of Māori occupation ($1300\text{--}1500$ AD) characterized by settlements near the coast, seasonal inland hunting, and a lack of fortifications.

Classic period

The stage of Māori occupation ($1500\text{--}1642$ AD) marked by the development of fortified pā and cultural changes following resource loss and climate shifts.

Kiore

The Pacific rat introduced by Polynesian settlers; it was both a food source and a predator responsible for extinctions of small birds and frogs.

Kuri

The Polynesian dog brought to Aotearoa by Māori settlers.

Midden

An archaeological site or refuse heap containing bones and shells that provides evidence of past human diet and biodiversity impacts.

$1280$ AD

The approximate date for the colonisation of Aotearoa arrived at by converging evidence from charcoal dating and rat-gnawed seeds.

Podocarp-broadleaf forest

The type of forest that predominated in the North Island of pre-human New Zealand.

Fern-shrubland

A habitat created by Māori settlers using fire as a tool to convert closed forest into useful areas for harvesting tubers.

Haast's eagle

The largest eagle ever known ($Aquila\,moorei$), which went extinct after humans hunted its primary prey, the moa, to extinction.

$$90\%$$

The percentage of New Zealand's wetlands lost due to drainage for farming since European arrival.

Mustelids

A group of predators, including the ferret ($1879$), stoat ($1884$), and weasel ($1884$), introduced by Europeans for biological control of rabbits.

$1840$ to $2000$

The period during which approximately $8$ million hectares of lowland forest were cleared following European settlement.

Ship Rat invasion (1964)

An event on Big South Cape Island that led to the extinction of the Greater short-tailed bat, Stead’s bush wren, and the South Island snipe.

New Zealand grayling

A species of fish that went extinct in $1930$ during the post-European period.

$$(Strigops\,habroptilus)$$

The scientific name for the Kakapo, which experienced a specimen export glut to Europe in the $1800s$.