Soil‐vegetation relationships on a sequence of sand dunes, Tautuku Beach, South‐east Otago, New Zealand

Soil development and plant commumtJes are described on three sand dunes estimated to be 130, 440 and 1,000 years old, respectively, at Tautuku Bay, Southeast Otago. A comparison of chemical and morphological properties of soils beneath a plant sequence from {itAmmophila armaria} through low forest of {itMetrosideros umbellata} and other broadleaved tree species to tall forest of {itWeinmannia racemosa} and {itM. umbellata} with occasional podocarps, shows an increase in organic matter from less than one to greater than 40%C, and a decline in pH from 8.0 to 4.3.