Relationship Between Flora and Fauna

There are many different types of flora and fauna in New Zealand. Flora and fauna such as Kiwi, Tui, stoats, supplejack vine and hook grass have a lot of unique features and characteristics. In this essay, I’m going to be talking about the relationship between these flora and fauna.

There are hundreds of different plants in the New Zealand bush. A couple of those are hook grass and supplejack vine. Hook grass can be found all over New Zealand. Their bright green leaves can grow from 15-45cm long. Despite its name, it’s not actually a grass; it’s a sedge plant. Supplejack is also one of the many plants that you can find in New Zealand. It’s a native New Zealand rainforest vine. Although they have a hard stem, they are still flexible. 

New Zealand also has a lot of fauna; both native and introduced. Two of these are Kiwi and Tui. Kiwi is a native bird that can only be found in New Zealand. There are five different species of kiwi; Brown Kiwi, Great-spotted Kiwi/roroa, little spotted kiwi, Rowi, and Tokoeka. Brown kiwi are the most common type. Kiwi is a flightless bird that can grow up to 40-45cm and it has a long beak. Another native New Zealand bird is the tui. From a distance, they look black but looking closely at them they have a blue, green, and bronze iridescent sheen. Tui can grow up to 30cm. An introduced animal that is a threat to native species is the stoat. A stoat is a mustelid that eats eggs, young birds, and lizards.

Some of the animals rely on plants to live and vice-versa. Hook grass is a plant that uses kiwi birds to spread. They hook their seeds to kiwi feathers, animals with fur and even to humans. Animals like stoats also need other animals to live. Stoat kills whatever they can; they part of the reason why some native animals in New Zealand are endangered. The supplejack vine provides a safe perch for forest birds like the tui. Some even build their nest in the knots of the vine.

This shows how important the relationship between flora and fauna. It’s showing how they help each other to stay alive. Having healthy flora and fauna is crucial for the survival of the New Zealand bush. Without some of the flora and fauna, a lot of species may not be able to survive. The only exception for these is some of the introduced species; which endangered a lot of native New Zealand animals. Regardless of the threats they still manage to keep each other alive.