Researchers have discovered that New Zealand’s endangered flightless birds are finding safety in areas where six species of moa once flourished before their extinction.
Researchers have discovered that New Zealand’s endangered flightless birds are finding safety in the areas where six species of moa thrived before they went extinct.
An international group of researchers, spearheaded by scientists at the University of Adelaide, utilized fossils and advanced computer modeling to uncover this finding, revealing insights that hold significant conservation implications.
“Our study tackled previous logistical hurdles to uncover the population trends of six moa species at resolutions previously thought unattainable,” explained senior author Associate Professor Damien Fordham from the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute.
“We achieved this by merging sophisticated computational models with broad fossil records, paleoclimate data, and creative reconstructions regarding the settlement and expansion of humans throughout New Zealand.
“Our findings indicate that, despite notable differences in the ecology, demographics, and extinction timing of the moa species, their populations ultimately dwindled and converged in the same regions on New Zealand’s North and South Islands.”
This recent revelation, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, identified these moa burial sites in the same isolated, frigid, mountainous locations that currently host many of New Zealand’s most at-risk flightless bird populations. These places include Mount Aspiring on the South Island and the Ruahine Range on the North Island.
“Moa populations likely vanished first from the high-quality lowland areas preferred by Polynesian settlers, with population declines slowing as one moved higher in elevation and further inland,” noted lead author Dr. Sean Tomlinson from the University of Adelaide.
“By identifying the last remaining populations of moa and comparing them with today’s distributions of flightless birds in New Zealand, we found that these final refuges are home to many current populations of takahē, weka, and great spotted kiwi.”
“Additionally, these ancient havens for moa coincide with the remaining mainland populations of the critically endangered kākāpō.”
While the causes of decline for New Zealand’s native flightless birds today differ from those responsible for ancient moa extinctions, this research reveals that their spatial patterns are still similar.
“The crucial similarity between past and present refuges is not that they offer the best habitats for flightless birds, but rather that they remain the last, least affected areas from human impact,” stated author Dr. Jamie Wood, also from the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute.
Much like previous waves of Polynesian expansion, the transformation of habitats by Europeans across New Zealand and the introduction of non-native species followed a path, moving from lowland regions to the more inhospitable, cold, mountainous areas.
This new research indicates that the legacies of extinct species can offer invaluable knowledge for conservation strategies aimed at New Zealand’s existing flightless birds, emphasizing the critical need to protect remote and wild areas.
Furthermore, it provides a valuable new approach to understanding past extinctions on islands where fossil and archaeological evidence is scarce, which is true for the majority of Pacific Islands.