GEOG 235. Biogeography
	Land of the Kiwi: Video Assignment

Note: Land of the Kiwi is a video from the Nature series shown on PBS. You will have to view my personal copy in order to complete this project.

This program focuses on New Zealand and the peculiarities of island life. After viewing the video you should answer the following biogeographicquestion:

Why are there so many rare and unusual species on the islands of New Zealand?

Organize your response around the effects of at least three major processes:

1. plate tectonics and the ancient geologic age and remoteness of New Zealand;
2. insularity—the adaptive responses of species to life on islands (small isolated land areas). There are several characteristics that tend to develop among island species anywhere in the world. Describe and discuss examples from New Zealand.
3. climate change—colder climatic conditions developed with Pleistocene glaciation and with the formation of high mountains.

Please type and double space a well-written essay-format answer. End with a brief evaluation of the educational value of this videotape. Two to three pages should be adequate.

Sketch maps or diagrams should be used, as appropriate, to explain or illustrate biogeographic processes or patterns.

tuatara:

only member of a relict order of reptiles

podocarp:

member of Gondwanan gymnosperm family

kauri tree: :

one of the Araucarias, another Gondwanan gymnosperm

Nothofagus or southern beech:

a broadleaf (angiosperm) restricted to the southern hemisphere (taxonomists disagree on whether it represents but one genus in the widespread beech family (Fagaceae) or whether it deserves being in a family of its own, Nothofagaceae, that is Gondwanan in distribution.

moas:

a family of flightless birds ranging in height from 8 feet or so to small partridge-sized birds. Now extinct (unless you accept the taxonomic interpretation that the kiwi is a moa).

wrybill:

an endemic shorebird

takahe:

bird of high alpine areas

kea:

ground-dwelling parrot of high elevations; known to attack sheep