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The natural tree line is the altitude to which native forest can grow, irrespective of whether the forest is currently present, or has been removed.

Grasslands naturally occur above the tree line at high altitudes. The tree line therefore represents the boundary between natural grasslands in high environments, and induced grasslands on the old forest soils below (subalpine and montane environments).

The tree line does not occur at the same altitude throughout New Zealand. It is a reflection of the temperature, which in turn is influenced by the distance a range is from the coast, and it's latitude. The tree line gets lower the further south you go in New Zealand. It is generally about 200m higher on inland ranges than coastal ranges, reflecting the longer or warmer growing seasons experienced inland.

As a rough guide, the natural tree line occurs at the following altitudes in each province. HIGH altitude environments occur above this altitude; MID altitude environments are below (Wardle pers comm.; Wardle (1991)).

For more detailed help about how to work out where the natural treeline would have occurred in your area.