New Zealand

===Biodiversity===
{{Main|Biodiversity of New Zealand}}
[[File:TeTuatahianui.jpg|thumb|upright|The endemic flightless [[kiwi (bird)|kiwi]] is a [[National symbols of New Zealand|national icon]].|alt=Kiwi amongst sticks]]
New Zealand's [[geographic isolation]] for 80 million years<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=R. |last2=Millener |first2=P. |title=The New Zealand biota: Historical background and new research |date=1993 |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |volume=8 |issue=12 |pages=429–33 |doi=10.1016/0169-5347(93)90004-9 |pmid= 21236222}}</ref> and island [[biogeography]] has influenced evolution of the country's species of [[fauna|animals]], [[fungus|fungi]] and [[flora|plants]]. Physical isolation has caused biological isolation, resulting in a dynamic evolutionary ecology with examples of distinctive plants and animals as well as populations of widespread species.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trewick |first1=S. A. |last2=Morgan-Richards |first2=M. |date=2014 |title=New Zealand Wild Life |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=9780143568896}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lindsey |first1=Terence |last2=Morris |first2=Rod |title=Collins Field Guide to New Zealand Wildlife |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |date=2000 |page=14 |isbn=978-1-86950-300-0}}</ref> The flora and fauna of New Zealand were originally thought to have originated from New Zealand's fragmentation off from Gondwana, however more recent evidence postulates species resulted from dispersal.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McDowall|first=R. M.|date=2008|title=Process and pattern in the biogeography of New Zealand – a global microcosm?|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01830.x|journal=Journal of Biogeography|language=en|volume=35|issue=2|pages=197–212|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01830.x|bibcode=2008JBiog..35..197M|s2cid=83921062|issn=1365-2699|access-date=6 April 2021|archive-date=18 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818090359/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01830.x|url-status=live}}</ref> About 82% of New Zealand's indigenous [[vascular plant]]s are [[Endemism|endemic]], covering 1,944 species across 65 [[genus|genera]].<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web |date=May 2010 |url=http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/page.asp?help_faqs_NZ_plants |title=Frequently asked questions about New Zealand plants |publisher=[[New Zealand Plant Conservation Network]] |access-date=15 January 2011 |archive-date=8 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908012124/http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/page.asp?help_faqs_NZ_plants |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="NZPCN 2006">{{cite book |last1=De Lange |first1=Peter James |last2=Sawyer |first2=John William David |last3=Rolfe |first3=Jeremy |title=New Zealand Indigenous Vascular Plant Checklist |date=2006 |publisher=[[New Zealand Plant Conservation Network]] |isbn=0-473-11306-6}}</ref> The number of fungi recorded from New Zealand, including lichen-forming species, is not known, nor is the proportion of those fungi which are endemic, but one estimate suggests there are about 2,300 species of lichen-forming fungi in New Zealand<ref name="FAQ" /> and 40% of these are endemic.<ref>{{cite book |first=Maggy |last=Wassilieff |chapter=Lichens – Lichens in New Zealand |title=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date=March 2009 |chapter-url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/lichens/2 |access-date=16 January 2011 |archive-date=17 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117000741/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/lichens/2 |url-status=live }}</ref> The two main types of forest are those dominated by broadleaf trees with emergent [[podocarp]]s, or by [[Nothofagus|southern beech]] in cooler climates.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-first=Alexander |editor-last=McLintock |title=Mixed Broadleaf Podocarp and Kauri Forest |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/forests-indigenous/4 |access-date=15 January 2011 |date=April 2010 |orig-year=1966 |encyclopedia=An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand |archive-date=17 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117113026/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/forests-indigenous/4 |url-status=live }}</ref> The remaining vegetation types consist of grasslands, the majority of which are [[Tussock grasslands of New Zealand|tussock]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Alan |last=Mark |chapter=Grasslands – Tussock grasslands |title=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date=March 2009 |chapter-url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/grasslands/1 |access-date=17 January 2010 |archive-date=17 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117000341/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/grasslands/1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Before the arrival of humans, an estimated 80% of the land was covered in forest, with only [[tree line|high alpine]], wet, infertile and volcanic areas without trees.<ref>{{cite web |title=Commentary on Forest Policy in the Asia-Pacific Region (A Review for Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand and Western Samoa) |date=1997 |publisher=Forestry Department |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/w7730e/w7730e09.htm#new%20zealand |access-date=4 February 2011 |archive-date=7 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207235120/http://www.fao.org/docrep/w7730e/w7730e09.htm#new%20zealand |url-status=live }}</ref> Massive [[Deforestation in New Zealand|deforestation]] occurred after humans arrived, with around half the forest cover lost to fire after Polynesian settlement.<ref>{{cite journal |last=McGlone |first=M. S. |date=1989 |title=The Polynesian settlement of New Zealand in relation to environmental and biotic changes |journal=New Zealand Journal of Ecology |volume=12(S) |pages=115–129 |url= http://nzes.org.nz/nzje/free_issues/NZJEcol12_s_115.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140717220413/http://nzes.org.nz/nzje/free_issues/NZJEcol12_s_115.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2014}}</ref> Much of the remaining forest fell after European settlement, being logged or cleared to make room for pastoral farming, leaving forest occupying only 23% of the land.<ref>{{cite report |last1=Taylor |first1=R. |last2=Smith |first2=I. |title=The state of New Zealand's environment 1997 |date=1997 |publisher=[[New Zealand Ministry for the Environment]] |location=Wellington |url=http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/ser/ser1997/index.html |access-date=6 March 2011 |archive-date=22 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122070627/http://mfe.govt.nz/publications/ser/ser1997/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Giant Haasts eagle attacking New Zealand moa.jpg|thumb|left|The giant [[Haast's eagle]] died out when humans hunted its main prey, the [[moa]], to extinction.|alt=An artist's rendition of a Haast's eagle attacking two moa]]

The forests were dominated by [[Birds of New Zealand|birds]], and the lack of mammalian predators led to some like the [[Kiwi (bird)|kiwi]], [[kākāpō]], [[weka]] and [[takahē]] evolving [[flightless bird|flightlessness]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.terranature.org/flightlessbirds.htm |title=New Zealand ecology: Flightless birds |work=TerraNature |access-date=17 January 2011 |archive-date=8 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408130705/http://www.terranature.org/flightlessBirds.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The arrival of humans, associated changes to habitat, and the introduction of [[Polynesian rat|rats]], ferrets and other mammals led to the [[List of New Zealand animals extinct in the Holocene|extinction]] of many bird species, including [[Megafauna|large birds]] like the [[moa]] and [[Haast's eagle]].<ref name="Holdaway2009">{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Holdaway |chapter=Extinctions – New Zealand extinctions since human arrival |title=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date=March 2009 |chapter-url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/extinctions/4 |access-date=4 February 2011 |archive-date=20 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120064405/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/extinctions/4 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=January 2005 |title=Huge eagles 'dominated NZ skies' |first=Alex |last=Kirby |work=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4138147.stm |access-date=4 February 2011 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404073729/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4138147.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Other indigenous animals are represented by reptiles ([[tuatara]], [[skink]]s and [[List of geckos of New Zealand|geckos]]), [[Leiopelmatidae|frogs]],<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-animals/reptiles-and-frogs |publisher=[[New Zealand Department of Conservation]] |title=Reptiles and frogs |access-date=25 June 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150129135945/http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-animals/reptiles-and-frogs/ |archive-date=29 January 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> such as the protected endangered [[Hamilton's Frog]], [[Spiders of New Zealand|spiders]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pollard |first1=Simon |chapter=Spiders and other arachnids |chapter-url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/spiders-and-other-arachnids |title=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=25 June 2017 |date=September 2007 |archive-date=6 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606043630/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/spiders-and-other-arachnids |url-status=live }}</ref> insects ({{lang|mi|[[wētā]]|italics=no}}),<ref>{{cite web |title=Wētā |url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/invertebrates/weta/ |publisher=[[New Zealand Department of Conservation]] |access-date=25 June 2017 |archive-date=12 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612074126/http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/invertebrates/weta/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and snails.<ref>{{cite book |first=Paddy |last=Ryan |chapter=Snails and slugs – Flax snails, giant snails and veined slugs |title=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date=March 2009 |chapter-url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/snails-and-slugs/2 |access-date=4 February 2011 |archive-date=17 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117014939/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/snails-and-slugs/2 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some, such as the tuatara, are so unique that they have been called [[living fossil]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Herrera-Flores |first1=Jorge A. |last2=Stubbs |first2=Thomas L. |last3=Benton |first3=Michael J. |last4=Ruta |first4=Marcello |title=Macroevolutionary patterns in Rhynchocephalia: Is the tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') a living fossil?|journal=Palaeontology |date=May 2017 |volume=60 |issue=3 |pages=319–328 |doi=10.1111/pala.12284 |bibcode=2017Palgy..60..319H |doi-access=free}}</ref> Three species of bats ([[New Zealand greater short-tailed bat|one]] since extinct) were the only sign of native land mammals in New Zealand until the 2006 discovery of bones from [[Saint Bathans mammal|a unique, mouse-sized land mammal]] at least 16 million years old.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.science.unsw.edu.au/news/2006/nzmammal.html |title=Tiny Bones Rewrite Textbooks, first New Zealand land mammal fossil |publisher=University of New South Wales |date=31 May 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070531085218/http://www.science.unsw.edu.au/news/2006/nzmammal.html |archive-date=31 May 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Worthy |first1=Trevor H. |last2=Tennyson |first2=Alan J. D. |last3=Archer |first3=Michael |last4=Musser |first4=Anne M. |last5=Hand |first5=Suzanne J. |last6=Jones |first6=Craig |last7=Douglas |first7=Barry J. |last8=McNamara |first8=James A. |last9=Beck |first9=Robin M. D. |title=Miocene mammal reveals a Mesozoic ghost lineage on insular New Zealand, southwest Pacific |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=103 |issue=51 |pages=19419–23 |date=2006 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0605684103|bibcode=2006PNAS..10319419W |pmid=17159151 |pmc=1697831|doi-access=free }}</ref> Marine mammals, however, are abundant, with almost half the world's [[cetacea]]ns (whales, dolphins, and [[porpoise]]s) and large numbers of [[fur seal]]s reported in New Zealand waters.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-animals/marine-mammals/ |publisher=[[New Zealand Department of Conservation]] |title=Marine Mammals |access-date=17 January 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110308103617/http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-animals/marine-mammals/ |archive-date=8 March 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many seabirds breed in New Zealand, a third of them unique to the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/sea-and-shore-birds/ |title=Sea and shore birds |publisher=[[New Zealand Department of Conservation]] |access-date=7 March 2011 |archive-date=2 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150802022849/http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/sea-and-shore-birds/ |url-status=live }}</ref> More [[List of birds of New Zealand#Penguins|penguin]] species are found in New Zealand than in any other country, with 13 of the world's 18 penguin species.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/penguins/ |title=Penguins |publisher=[[New Zealand Department of Conservation]] |access-date=7 March 2011 |archive-date=15 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915163419/http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/penguins/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since human arrival, almost half of the country's vertebrate species have become extinct, including at least fifty-one birds, three frogs, three lizards, one freshwater fish, and one bat. Others are endangered or have had their range severely reduced.<ref name="Holdaway2009" /> However, New Zealand conservationists have pioneered several methods to help threatened wildlife recover, including island sanctuaries, pest control, wildlife translocation, fostering and ecological [[island restoration|restoration of islands]] and other [[Protected areas of New Zealand|protected areas]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Carl |last=Jones |chapter=Reptiles and Amphibians |editor1-first=Martin |editor1-last=Perrow |editor2-last=Davy |editor2-first=Anthony |title=Handbook of Ecological Restoration: Principles of Restoration|volume=2 |page=362 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=2002 |isbn=0-521-79128-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Towns |first1=D. |last2=Ballantine |first2=W. |title=Conservation and restoration of New Zealand Island ecosystems |date=1993 |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |volume=8 |issue=12 |pages=452–7 |doi=10.1016/0169-5347(93)90009-E |pmid=21236227}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Island restoration: Exploring the past, anticipating the future |first=Mark |last=Rauzon |journal=Marine Ornithology |volume=35 |pages=97–107 |date=2008 |url=http://marineornithology.org/PDF/35_2/35_2_97-107.pdf |access-date=17 January 2011 |archive-date=6 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606022129/http://marineornithology.org/PDF/35_2/35_2_97-107.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Diamond |first=Jared |chapter=New Zealand as an Archipelago: An International Perspective |editor1-first=D. |editor1-last=Towns |editor2-first=C. |editor2-last=Daugherty |editor3-first=I. |editor3-last=Atkinson |date=1990 |title=Ecological Restoration of New Zealand Islands |series="Conservation Sciences Publications" series |volume=Z<!--Yes, zed not two.--> |publisher=[[New Zealand Department of Conservation]] |location=Wellington |pages=3–8 |url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/science-and-technical/EcologicalRestorationNZIslands.pdf |via=Doc.Govt.nz |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-date=11 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111044707/http://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/science-and-technical/EcologicalRestorationNZIslands.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
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