Water erodes the steep hill surfaces of much of the catchment and scours the banks of the many streams that flow into the Harbour.
How does algae support life of the stream?
What does sediment consist of?
What can rural land owners do to improve the quality of their streams?
How do wetlands protect the harbour?
How do councils work with rural land owners to protect waterways?
January
Recreation
February
Fishing
March
Shags
April
Pollution
May
Tides
June
Urban Catchment
July
Pauatahanui Reserve
August
Sediment
September
Creatures Great & Small
October
The Rural Catchment
November
Industrial Catchment
December
The Future
Episode information
A podocarp forest is an ancient coniferous forest consisting of large trees which have been present in New Zealand since Gondwanaland. There is a good description at www.doc.govt.nz.
A catchment is an area from which precipitation drains into the harbour. News about the harbour and catchment is available at the Porirua City Council website: http://pcc.govt.nz.
The government website www.climatechange.govt.nz describes New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme.
According to the NZ Native Freshwater Life website:
“New Zealand has only a single species of decapod freshwater shrimp; Family Atyidae: Paratya curvirostris, in the entire country. It is the southernmost member of its family the Atyidae whose distribution includes the western edge of the Pacific Ocean from Siberia, through Asia, Indonesia and Australasia. P. curvirostris is found only in New Zealand (i.e. it is endemic) and has been found all the way from Northland to Stewart Island, and on the Chatham Islands. As its distribution moves south its upper altitudinal limit decreases suggesting temperature is an important factor limiting this distribution.” See more at http://nzfreshwater.org/shrimp.html.
