Kauri Facing Climate Change
Like most places on Earth, New Zealand is expected to experience rapid changes in climate during the next century. Although kauri are an ancient, resilient species, the anticipated decrease in precipitation in the coming decades will add increased stress to kauri forests that threatened in many different ways.
It is unknown how kauri will respond to climate change, but initial research has been funded to find out. Click here to read more about current research.
IPCC Projections for seasonal precipitation in 2080-2099. CLICK IMAGE FOR SOURCE AND FULL REPORT.
Kauri Tree Ring Data
In fact, we can study Earth's climate history using the tree rings of kauri. Some have survived over 2,000 years, and massive ancient trees are preserved in bogs ready to be studied. A 2012 publication in Nature inferred from kauri tree rings that the 20th Century was the most active century for the El Nino Southern Oscillation in the last 500 years (Fowler et al. 2012).
Photo: The Kauri Museum