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Story: Forest succession and regeneration

Forest on glacier moraine

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Forest on glacier moraine

This is the Waihola Valley, downstream from Franz Josef Glacier in Westland Tai Poutini National Park. Kāmahi–southern rātā forest grows on rocky surfaces that were formerly covered by the glacier. The oldest trees (foreground) established around 1875. The forest on the rocky features on the valley floor started growing after 1867 – at that time, the toe of the glacier lay over the rocks.

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University of Canterbury

by Dave Kelly

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How to cite this page

Maggy Wassilieff, Forest succession and regeneration – Forest succession, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/11897/forest-on-glacier-moraine (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Maggy Wassilieff, published 1 March 2009.