Plants & Habitats
The natural vegetation of Shakespear was largely destroyed when it was developed as a farm. When the land was purchased for a park in 1967 it was mostly cleared of almost all native vegetation except for parts of Waterfall Gully and Kōwhai Glen, and patches of grazed mānuka scrub in the campground gully. The freshwater wetlands at Shakespear would once have been extensive taking up all of the low lying land at Okoromai Bay through to Army Bay and Te Haruhi Bay. The wetlands present today are much reduced and not always natural.
Waterfall Gully is one of the remaining areas of remnant forest, which consists primarily of pūriri, taraire, karaka, pōhutukawa, tawa and with small patches of kauri forest on the upper slopes of some of the ridges.
The kōwhai of Waterfall Gully may be amongst the largest in Auckland. The pūriri particularly are very old and most impressive when you first enter the Waterfall Gully track, with some branches covering the stream. Taraire and kohekohe are also prominent. Kohekohe flowers in winter and their fruits are large and brown in colour. The sub-canopy is porokaiwhiri/pigeonwood, mahoe, houpara/lancewood crosses, putaputawētā and kōuka/cabbage tree. The understorey is karamu, Coprosma rhamnoides, hangehange, and mapou. Kareao vines/supplejack are abundant.
Kōwhai Glen, the other area of remnant forest, has a canopy of taraire, pōhutukawa, kōwhai, and pūriri. There are patches of naturally regenerating gumland scrub on the ridges and on moving down into the valley mature forest becomes prominent. The gully terminates in a wetland with a canopy of kōuka/cabbage tree.
A threatened native daphne (Pimelea orthia) was found growing in several locations in the Defence land. Seeds have been propagated by the SOSSI nursery and now some pimelea plants can be seen along three tracks within the park. Find out more about Pimelea orthia.
The original fresh water and saline wetland between Okoromai and Army Bays was drained when the park was first being developed as a farm park. A later change to Regional Parks policy has allowed for wetlands to be restored at Okoromai. Patches of peatland in the Okoromai Bay wetland may once have had Baumea, Schoenus brevifolius, Empodisma minus (now a rare plant in Auckland) raupō, manuka and Dracophyllum lessonianum growing in it. There has been extensive planting of mānuka, harakeke/flax, and kōuka/cabbage tree in the wetland area between Okoromai and Army Bay from 2007 until 2009.
The natural saltmarsh contains species such as glasswort/ureure (Sarcocornia) flats at Okoromai Bay and remnants of saltmarsh ribbonwood and mangroves. There are more planted areas here than natural, and the natural sequences and environmental gradients are impacted by the drainage, raised causeways and haphazard placement of planted natives. Some Chatham Island akeake and Norfolk Island hibiscus were planted in the past.
Poaka/pied stilt, pūweto/spotless crake, moho pererū/banded rail and pāteke are seen frequently in the wetlands.
An artificial pond at the base of Waterfall Gully has been colonised by native wetland plants and serves as a freshwater habitat for waterfowl. This is now densely packed with kukuraho/marsh club rush (Bolboschoenus fluvatilis), but pāteke and pūtangitangi/paradise shelduck are frequently seen in the open waters. The elusive mātātā/fernbird is often heard, but not so often seen.
There is a kōuka/cabbage tree and raupō swamp at the base of Kowhai Glen, that has been dominated by Mexican Devil, but that is gradually being cleared.
Sea grass (Zostera muelleri, also known as eelgrass) beds are present in both Okoromai Bay and Te Haruhi Bay. Sea grass beds are considered to be an important marine ecosystem with high biodiversity and habitat values (e.g. for juvenile fish). They depend on good water clarity and are therefore sensitive to environmental changes (e.g. sedimentation). Sea grasses have been lost from some parts of Auckland e.g. the Waitematā Harbour and the Manukau Harbour . This reinforces the Auckland Council approach of riparian planting to reduce siltation and maintain water clarity.
The Okoromai seagrass shows signs of damage from heavy foot traffic of people gathering cockles and from grazing by the large flock of black swans.
The dunes at Te Haruhi Bay and Okoromai Bay are in a sheltered harbour. Vegetation at both bays has been modified extensively by kikuyu to provide a lawn for picnic/visitor purposes. The dunes are deepest near the campground in Te Haruhi Bay.
At Te Haruhi Bay the dunes were once dominated by exotic marram grass, but little of that remains today. For many years there has been restoration planting of pīngao and kōwhangatara/spinifex on the foredune, but it is a battle against storms such as Cyclone Gabriel, when 3m of the foredune was lost. It has been noted that pīngao appears slightly more resistant to storm erosion than kōwhangatara.
The backdunes along the road to the campground are now being planted with pohuehue/muehlenbeckia. Dune restoration allows opportunities for threatened plant restoration, e.g. waiu-atua/shore spurge, and threatened reptile restoration. After the pest fence was built shore skinks were discovered in the park.
The other plants seen in the dunes are the exotic grasses kikuyu, couch and harestail, along with several native species – pohuehue, rushes and rauparaha/shore convolvulus. Unfortunately invasive weedy species are often present in large numbers, eg wild gladiolus and King Island melilot (a yellow flowered clover look-alike).