Kopuatai Peat Dome

Kopuatai Peat Dome
Kopuatai Peat Dome is the brown footprint-shaped area at centre
Map
LocationNorth Island, New Zealand
Area10,201 hectares (25,210 acres)
Designated4 December 1989
Reference no.444[1]

The Kopuatai Peat Dome is a large peatland complex on the Hauraki Plains in the North Island of New Zealand. It consists of two raised domes, one in the north and the other in the south, that are up to three metres higher at the center than at the edge.[2] The 10,201 hectares (25,210 acres) wetland contains the largest intact raised bog in New Zealand and was listed under the Ramsar Convention in 1989 as a Wetland of International Importance.[3] Most of the wetland is ombrotrophic, meaning it receives water and nutrient inputs solely from rain and is hydrologically isolated from the surrounding canals and rivers.[4] Locally, a popular misconception persists that water flows from the nearby Piako River into the bog and that the wetland acts as a significant store for floodwater.[5]

  1. ^ "Kopuatai Peat Dome". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. ^ Irving, S.; Skinner, M.; Thompson, K. (1984). Kopuatai Peat Dome - A Vegetation Survey. Crown Land Series No.12. University of Waikato and Department of Lands and Survey, Hamilton, New Zealand.
  3. ^ "Report for Kopuatai Peat Dome, Ramsar Site No.: 444, Wetlands International Site Reference No.: 5NZ004". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Wetlands International. 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  4. ^ Maggs, G (1997). "Hydrology of the Kopuatai Peat Dome". New Zealand Journal of Hydrology. 36 (2): 147–172. JSTOR 43944791.
  5. ^ "Cyclones put focus on flood protection measures in the Waikato". Stuff. Retrieved 27 November 2018.