Kopuatai is Aotearoa's largest remaining raised peat bog and one of our six Ramsar-listed wetlands of international significance. This vast, 100 square kilometer rain-fed peatland has accumulated carbon over the past 11,000 years, to an average density of around 2,400 tonnes per hectare. Here, continuous peat accumulation has taken place in a warm temperate climate zone with frequent summer water deficits. The key to this has been the ecosystem engineering properties of the peat-forming vegetation dominated by the restiad plants Empodisma robustum and Sporadanthus ferrugineus. Kopuatai is a taonga (treasure) because it has survived almost intact after 90% of Aotearoa's lowland wetlands were drained and destroyed during land development. The video shows the approach to our research site where we have measured carbon dioxide and methane fluxes since 2011.
