The Chatham Island temperate forests cover the remote Chatham Islands archipelago, which lies roughly 800 kilometers east of New Zealand's South Island in the Pacific Ocean and includes the two largest islands, Chatham and Pitt. Isolated for well over a million years, the islands were originally cloaked in relatively low-stature forest interwoven with scrubby heathland and rush swamp, where tree ferns, orchids, and Nikau palms (Rhopalostylis sapida) thrive in a humid, peaty understory; conspicuously, the podocarps and southern beeches typical of mainland New Zealand are absent. The climate is oceanic and windswept, with a narrow temperature range, frequent rain, and constant exposure to Southern Ocean storms. The flora is strikingly distinct, with around fifty endemic plant species, and the ecoregion's flagship is the Chatham Island black robin (Petroica traversi), famously brought back from just a handful of surviving birds, though invasive mammals and past habitat clearance keep much of the native vegetation under pressure. For gardeners, the islands are the wild home of several prized ornamentals, including the Chatham Islands forget-me-not (Myosotidium hortensia) and tree daisies of the genus Olearia.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 43.9°S, 176.5°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
Climate snapshot not available at this resolution — this ecoregion sits outside our detailed climate coverage (typically Antarctic interior or far-ocean island chains).
At a glance
Dominant biome
Temperate Broadleaf & Mixed Forests
Realm
Australasia
Approximate area
310 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Imperiled (Dinerstein NNH 4)
About the temperate broadleaf & mixed forests biome
Four-season forests of deciduous hardwoods — oak, maple, beech — often mixed with conifers, shaped by warm summers and cold winters. Trees leaf out in spring and color in autumn; the generally fertile soils have made these forests heavily settled and farmed.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
No catalog plants intersect this ecoregion's zone range. As the catalog grows to cover this region's climate band, suggestions will surface here.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other temperate broadleaf & mixed forests ecoregions to explore: