Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan Rare peninsula landform resulting from an earthflow at head of Nydia Bay. Fans and alluvial terraces, floodplains, coastal wetlands, beaches and estuaries are infrequent and limited in extent, being confined to heads of major inlets - relatively well-developed compared to the rest of the Sounds. Generally large, high gradient streams with long, low gradient stretches on fans and alluvial flats. 2. Climate and Elevation Temperate to cool temperate, moderately moist to wet climate. Temperature inversion and cold air drainage into valleys pronounced. Frosts occasional on gentle landforms. Temperate range ameliorated by marine influence. Droughts very uncommon. Rainfall range: 1600-2000 mm. Especially wet inland at higher altitudes. Occasional intense rainfall events. Low to moderate exposure. Various degrees of shelter from strong winds and occasional storms, but bays of main inlets and particularly sheltered. High ridges and summits of very exposed to prevailing westerly winds and storms. Winter snow on summits rare. Moderately high elevation: 0-1040 m altitude range; mean altitude 400 m. Moderate maritime influence - surrounded by relatively calm, Inner Sounds waters. 3. Water High water quality in forested catchments and headwaters. Some degradation in lower gradient stretches as a result of farming activity. Also water quality problems in coastal areas from septic tanks. B. The Biological Environment [Part of Sounds Ecological District] Total land area in Nydia ecosystem is 66,985 ha of which; 69% is in native forest, 4% is in shrubland (both native and exotic), 12% is in plantation forestry and 15% is in pasture and non-woody native cover. (Note: Percentages based on interpretation of 1990 satellite images.) 1. Predominant Indigenous Vegetation Detailed in Table 9 Originally, predominantly forested, except for rock and beach shoreline fringes, estuarine embayments, active floodplains, coastal wetlands, shrublands and herbfields, and rock stacks. Tall alluvial forest was a significant feature of the ecosystem. Upland forest communities and estuaries are still largely intact. Original forest on lower altitude hillslopes and toeslopes, and coastal forests are largely intact in Tennyson Inlet, and Nydia Bay to Fairy Bay, but mostly gone from elsewhere in the ecosystem. Lowland and coastal forests replaced by limited secondary forest and regenerating shrublands. Alluvial communities, including wetlands and estuarine margins, are all but gone from the larger alluvial areas; small areas of alluvial forests and beach communities still intact in Tennyson Inlet and Nydia Bay. Island with forest and shore shrubland and herbfields. App Two - 46