biology

Wilding conifer

Wilding conifer is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wilding conifer rather than just read about it. In short: Wilding conifers, commonly known as wilding pines, are invasive trees in the high country of New Zealand. Millions of dollars are spent on controlling their spread.

Key takeaways

Wilding conifer belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wilding conifer to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wilding conifer from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Wilding conifers, commonly known as wilding pines, are invasive trees in the high country of New Zealand. Millions of dollars are spent on controlling their spread. In the South Island, they threaten 210,000 hectares of public land administered by the Department of Conservation. They are also present on privately owned land and other public land such as roadsides. The wilding conifers are considered to be a threat to biodiversity, farm productivity and to landscape values. Since they often invade tussock grasslands – which are characterised by low-lying vegetation that is considered to be a natural environment – the tall trees become a prominent and unwanted feature.

Species

There are ten main species that have become wildings:

Bishop pine (Pinus muricata) Corsican pine (Pinus nigra) Dwarf mountain pine (Pinus mugo) Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) Radiata pine (Monterey pine, Pinus radiata) Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga species) European larch (Larix decidua) The various species dominate in different areas of New Zealand. Radiata pine (Pinus radiata) is used for 90% of the plantation forests in New Zealand and some of the wilding conifers are a result of these forests.

Control measures Without any control measures, wilding conifers will spread over an increasing area with economic and environmental consequences. As well as volunteers organised by environmental groups, regional councils and the Department of Conservation invest in wild conifer removal. A South Island Wilding Conifer Management Group was formed in 2006 and obtained funding from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Sustainable Farming Fund. Mechanical removal by hand pulling seedlings, and the use of brush cutters and chainsaws are common control methods. Spray trials are also being carried out. In 2004 a spraying operation by the Department of Conservation at Mid Dome in the Southland region caused spray drift onto surrounding areas including the towns of Athol and Kingston.

By region

Pest management is administered by regional councils. There are sixteen different regions in New Zealand and wilding conifers only occur in a few of these regions, predominantly in the South Island. The Department of Conservation manages wilding conifers on public land under its jurisdiction.

Canterbury In its 2005 Pest Management Strategy the Canterbury Regional Council (Ecan) has the objective of eradicating all self-sown wilding conifers in ecologically sensitive areas in its jurisdiction. To do this a range of measures are used, including carrying out wilding conifer control operations, encouraging reporting of the presence of wilding conifers, encouraging the removal of seed sources and advocating changes to the district plans of the territorial authorities to prevent or control the planting of inappropriate conifers.

Hawke's Bay Wilding conifers infest the Kaweka Forest Park.

Marlborough Pinus contorta infests the south Marlborough area and is classed as a "Containment Control Pest", which are pests that are managed to prevent spreading to new areas. Other wilding species exist in Marlborough but Lodgepole Pine is the focus for pest management.

Otago Pinus contorta is a pest plant listed in the Otago Regional Council Pest Management Strategy for Otago.

Southland A major area of wilding conifer spread is in the Mid Dome Area in the Southland region. The Mid Dome Wilding Trees Charitable Trust was set up in 2006 and in 2008 the government allocated $54,000 from the Biodiversity Funds to control wildings on about 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) in the area.

See also Forestry in New Zealand Invasive species in New Zealand

References

Further reading R.L. Hill, S.M. Zydenbos and C.M. Bezar, ed. (2004). Managing Wilding Conifers in New Zealand: Present and Future (PDF). NZPPS. ISBN 0-478-10842-7. (Individual chapters can be downloaded from the New Zealand Plant Protection Society) Ledgard, Nick; Langer, Lisa (1999). Wilding Prevention (PDF). Forest Research Institute. ISBN 0-477-02186-7. Harding, M. (May 1990), Wilding pines – a growing problem, Forest and Bird magazine, pp. 38–41 Hansford, Dave (2 June 2010). "Wilding Pines". New Zealand Geographic (102). Froude, Victoria A (December 2011). Wilding conifers in New Zealand: Status report (PDF). Pacific Eco-Logic Ltd. ISBN 978-0-478-40010-6. Wilding Pines: Tackling our worst weed

External links

Wilding pines at the Department of Conservation South Island Wilding Conifer Strategy (2001), Department of Conservation South Island Wilding Conifer Management Group Wilding Conifers in Canterbury at Environment Canterbury Wakatipu Wilding Conifer Strategy at the Queenstown Lakes District Council Waimakariri Ecological and Landscape Restoration Alliance

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wilding conifer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wilding conifer claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wilding conifer before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wilding conifer ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wilding conifer

In research: Wilding conifer appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wilding conifer in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wilding conifer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Conifers, Environmental issues with forests, Invasive plant species in New Zealand, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wilding conifer outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wilding conifer in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wilding conifer means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wilding conifer out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wilding conifer in simple terms?

Wilding conifers, commonly known as wilding pines, are invasive trees in the high country of New Zealand. Millions of dollars are spent on controlling their spread.

Why does Wilding conifer matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wilding conifer?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wilding conifer.