Subfossil forest remains and their bearing on forest history in the Rakaia catchment, Canterbury, New Zealand

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Abstract
A previously described lager of buried wood was re-examined along Hamilton Creek in the Harper branch of the Rakaia River. Additional plant material was recovered from the same layer and all these subfossil remains were identified as mountain beech (Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides), the present forest dominant in the district. Published radiocarbon dates for the buried wood indicate that mountain beech has dominated these forests for at least the last 5,000 years. Nothofagus in the Rakaia catchment is thought to be derived from two complementary sources: by migration from northern refugia during the post-glacial period—the last 14,000 years; and by expansion from minor refugia within the catchment wherein Nothofagus survived through the late Otira glacial. Attention is drawn also to the paucity of identified plant material among the published radiocarbon dates for New Zealand.

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