Kauri disease is erasing centuries of stored carbon from New Zealand forests
Kauri dieback disease causes mature forests to lose about one tonne of carbon per hectare yearly.
Kauri are among New Zealand's tallest and longest-lived trees, with deep cultural significance to Māori. Large kauri accumulate enormous amounts of carbon over centuries in their trunks, branches and roots.
Over the past two decades, kauri dieback disease has killed hundreds to thousands across the upper North Island. The disease is caused by a soil-borne water mould that infects kauri through their roots and disrupts their ability to take up water.
Research measured forests in the Waitākere Ranges over about a decade and found healthy stands gained about 0.8 tonnes of carbon per hectare each year, while severely affected stands lost around one tonne per hectare each year.
Mature kauri forests, which hold the most carbon, were hit hardest. The difference matters because large kauri account for about half of the living carbon in these forests.
- 0.8 tonnes per hectare per year
- Carbon gain, healthy forest
- 1 tonne per hectare per year
- Carbon loss, diseased forest
- Phytophthora agathidicida
- Disease pathogen
- Northland and Auckland's Waitākere Ranges
- Region most affected
Why it mattersIf disease wipes out mature kauri forests, carbon storage that took centuries to accumulate is lost, affecting the region's overall climate impact.
AustraliaNo direct Australian effect yet, though climate-focused researchers and conservation groups track kauri dieback as a test of forest resilience to disease.
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