Elevational distribution of conifer‐broadleaved hardwood forests on South Island, New Zealand

Constrained canonical correspondence analysis was used to compare the elevational distribution of conifer‐broadleaved hardwood forests at nine localities on South Island, New Zealand. Elevations of individual species were compared using cover‐weighted mean elevations and cover‐weighted standard deviations of mean elevation. Mean elevations of floristically similar stands declined with latitude, but was also lower at a locality with a granite substrate than at an adjacent locality with a schist substrate. The mean elevation breadth of frequent species (those in >5% of stands) was greatest at a locality underlain by schist and least at a locality underlain by granite. This is consistent with wide habitat breadth for species in early successional stages, because forest underlain by schist is more frequently disturbed than forest underlain by granite. Elevation breadth of frequent species was less, and species' turnover greater, in South Island conifer‐broadleaved hardwood forests than in conifer forests at similar latitudes in the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA.