RECENT COLONIZATION BY NOTHOFAGUS-FUSCA AT CASS, CANTERBURY

Dispersal of seeds by wind, from a source at least 2.5 km distant, on the north bank of the Waimakariri River, is invoked to explain recent colonisation by Nothofagus fusca at Comer Knob, Cass, on the south ban k of the river. Periodic seed dispersal to the site, and establishment of N. fusca trees, has been occurring for about the last 60-80 years. The site is clad mainly in mixed scrub in which Leptospermum scopariu m is very prominent. Also colonising the site (and nearby similar site s) is Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides. Probably most of the se eds from which the original N. solandri trees grew were derived from s tands on adjacent mountain slopes 1.0 km or more distant.