Baseline vegetation monitoring was carried out in 2005 before any of the pests were removed from Pomona and Rona Islands.
Five permanent vegetation plots on Pomona and two on Rona were surveyed by students from the University of Otago under the direction of Professor Alan Mark, with funding from the Leslie Hutchins Conservation Foundation.
Surveying the vegetation plots before eradicating the pests allows us to get an understanding of the level of damage caused by browsing species such as deer and possum.
New Zealand plants are slow growing, so the vegetation plots are re-surveyed every ten years. In 2016, volunteers and DOC staff re-surveyed all vegetation plots. This long-term monitoring shows how the forest is recovering after the removal of browsing mammals.
Vegetation report: re-survey carried out in 2016
