Otira

The first practical project I am hoping to get started on with rock wren protection is in the subalpine area nestled above the Otira and Bealey Valley. The Otira Basin, the head of the Bealey and Temple Basin. It is an area where rock wren still "hang on" to existence, but we need for a start to determine how many and what predators they co-exist with.

I came across this video on youtube of well know local (to Arthurs Pass) ecologist Gerry McSweeney describing the positive effects of 1080 on theOtira Valley, to see the amazing rata blooming in the Otira then skeletal nearby in the Ahaura is devastating...and listen to the Otira birdsong..

A question I am trying to get to grips with is what effect 1080 may have on a subalpine/alpine environment. We have used it so much in the bush now that its positive effects have been proven to outweigh the negative. Would this be the same? Would the removal of mice in particular from the alpine environment enable invertebrates to flourish, flower numbers to rebound and rock wren to breed more successfully?