RAPID ECOLOGICAL SURVEY, INVENTORY AND IMPLEMENTATION - A CASE-STUDY FROM WAIKAIA ECOLOGICAL REGION, NEW-ZEALAND

General biogeographic features of the two Ecological Districts - Umbre lla c. 150 000 ha and Nokomai, c. 110 000 ha - of the Waikaia Ecologic al Region, south-central South Island, are described. Results of norma l and inverse cluster analyses of plot samples of the full range of in digenous vegetation remaining in each District are presented. Up to 17 plant communities from each District are characterised in terms of ph ysiognomy, flora, and physiography. These range from beech forests and lowland red tussock grassland through upland shrublands, shrub-tussoc klands, tussocklands, sedgelands, and wetlands to high-alpine communit ies (snowbank, cushionfield, scree). The 649 indigenous and 97 adventi ve vascular plant taxa plus 21 hybrids are listed by District. Plant d istributions, particularly altitudinal and geographic limits for many alpine and some threatened taxa, are described. Of the region's fauna, 61 birds, 268 Lepidoptera, 202 Coleoptera (some in both orders undesc ribed), and several other invertebrates including the rare land snail Powelliphanta spedeni spedeni are listed by District. Distributions of several rare andi or local taxa are described both within and beyond the Region. Aquatic fauna of unmodified upland lakes and ponds of Umbr ella District are recorded. Within the Region, 31 areas ranging from 2 5 ha to 2620 ha are recommended for protection, 20 (6260 ha or 2.4%) f rom the Umbrella District and 11 (11 615 ha or 9.5%) from the Nokomai District. These were selected so as to adequately represent the full r ange of remaining indigenous ecosystems and their associated landforms . Details of progress (to July 1997) with the implementation phase of the programme are outlined. Of the 31 Recommended Areas for Protection (RAPs) identified in the field surveys, seven now have some degree of protection over their full extent and nine are partly protected. Thes e protected areas represent 44% (c. 7985 ha) of the total area of the 31 RAPs (18 060 ha) identified. Tenure review of pastoral leasehold la nd continues to be an important means of protecting conservation value s in these two Districts, as in other parts of the South Island high c ountry.