David Norton
Position
Professor
Qualifications
FLS
F.N.Z.I.F.
B.Sc. (Hons)
Ph.D.
Room
Forestry 210
Contact Details
Phone: +64 3 364 2116 (Ext 6116)
david.norton@canterbury.ac.nz
Postal Address
School of Forestry
College of Engineering
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch
New Zealand
Undergraduate Courses
Graduate Courses
Research Interests
Conservation biology, especially fragmentation and restoration ecology, significance assessment and threatened plant conservation; forest ecology, especially forest pattern and dynamics.
Current research projects
- Integrating biodiversity conservation and production in agriculture and forestry.
- Integrating pastoral and biodiversity values in the South Island high country.
- Significance assessment in rural New Zealand
- Assessment of the affects of subsidence resulting from underground coal-mining on podocarp-beech forest.
- Mine-site restoration.
- Ecology, conservation and restoration of threatened plant species.
Further information on research
Major Research achievements during past five years
2001 - 2002 Biennial Research Report (.pdf, 281KB)
Recent Publications
Didham, R.K., Watts, C.H. & Norton, D.A. 2005. Are systems with strong underlying abiotic regimes more likely to exhibit alternative stable states? Oikos 110: 409-416.
Norton, D.A., Cochrane, C.H. & Reay, S.D. 2005. Crown-stem dimension relationships in two New Zealand native forests. New Zealand Journal of Botany 43: 673-678.
Hobbs, R.J., Arico, S., Aronson, J., Baron, J.S., Bridgewater, P, Cramer, V.A., Epstein, P.R., Ewel, J.J., Klink, K.A., Lugo, A.E., Norton, D.A., Ojima, D., Richardson, D.A., Sanderson, E.W., Valladares, F., Vila, M., Zamora, R. & Zobel, M. 2006. Novel ecosystems: theoretical and management aspects of the new ecological world order. Global Ecology and Biogeography 15, 1-7.
Pawson, S.M., Brockerhoff, E.G., Norton, D.A. & Didham, R.K. 2006. Clear-fell harvest impacts on biodiversity: past research and the search for harvest size thresholds. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 36: 1035-1046.
Grüner, I.G. & Norton, D.A. 2006. Herbivory by hares as a threat to the native brooms Carmichaelia juncea and C. vexillata. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 30: 261-265.
Norton, D.A., Espie, P.R., Murray, W. & Murray, J. 2006. Influence of pastoral management on plant biodiversity in a depleted short tussock grassland, Mackenzie Basin. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 30: 335-344.
Norton, D.A., Dickinson, Y. & Van Leeuwen, M. 2007. Ecology of a Ranunculus lyallii population at its dryland distributional limit Canterbury, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 45: 81-85.
Norton, D.A. & Didham, R.K. 2007. Comment on “Why are there so many species of herbivorous insects in tropical rainforests?” Science 315: 1666b.
Harding, J.S., Norton, D.A. & McIntosh, A.R. 2007. Persistence of a significant population of rare Canterbury mudfish (Neochanna burrowsius) in a hydrologically isolated catchment. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 41: 309-316.
Ledgard, N.J. & Norton, D.A. 2008. The impact of browsing on wilding conifers in the South Island high country. New Zealand Journal of Forestry 52(4): 29-34.
Ozdemir, I., Norton, D.A., Ozkan, U.Y., Mert, A. & Senturk, O. 2008. Estimation of tree size diversity using object orientated texture analysis and Aster imagery. Sensors 8: 4709-4724.
Norton, D.A. & Roper-Lindsay, J. 2008. Assessing significance under the RMA – moving forwards: a reply to Walker et al. (2008). New Zealand Journal of Ecology 32: 238-239.
de Lange P.J., Norton D.A., Courtney S.P., Heenan P.B., Barkla J.W., Cameron E.K., Hitchmough R., Townsend A.J. 2009. Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61-96.
Norton, D.A. 2009. Biodiversity offsets – two New Zealand case studies and an assessment framework. Environmental Management 43: 698-706.
Norton, D.A. & Reid, N. 2009. Sheep grazing reduced Hieracium pilosella flowering. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 52: 129-131.
Sage, D.J.M., Norton, D.A. & Espie, P.R. 2009. Effect of grazing exclusion on the woody weed Rosa rubiginosa in high country short tussock grasslands. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 52: 123-128.
Norton, D.A. 2009. Species invasions and the limits to restoration: learning from the New Zealand experience. Science 325: 569-571.
Norton, D.A. & Molloy, B.P.J. 2009. Heliohebe maccaskillii (Plantaginaceae) – a new rank for a threatened limestone endemic, North Canterbury, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 405-409.
Laliberté, E., Norton, D.A., Tylianakis, J.M. & Scott, D. 2010. Comparison of two sampling methods for quantifying changes in vegetation composition under rangeland development. Rangeland Ecology and Management 63: 537-545.
Williams, A, Ridgway, H.J. & Norton, D.A. 2010. Growth and competitiveness of the New Zealand tree species Podocarpus cunninghamii is reduced by ex-agricultural AMF but enhanced by forest AMF. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 43: 339-345.
Dickinson, Y. & Norton, D.A. 2011. Divergent fine-scale patterns in New Zealand’s short tussock grasslands. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 35: 76-82.
Payne, T. & Norton, D.A. 2011. Influence of shade on soil and foliage water in a depleted short tussock grassland, Mackenzie Basin. New Zealand Natural Sciences 36: 21-31.
Norton, D.A. & Overmars, F.B. 2012. Ecological areas – premier protected natural areas. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 36: 108-120.
Williams, A. & Norton, D.A. 2012. Estimating carbon stocks in stands of Podocarpus cunninghamii in the eastern South Island high country of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Forestry Science 42: 29-38.
Hurst, J.M., Stewart, G.H., Perry, G.L.W., Wiser, S.K. & Norton, D.A. 2012. Determinants of tree mortality in mixed old-growth Nothofagus forest. Forest Ecology and Management 270: 189-199.
Laliberté, E., Shipley, B., Norton, D.A. & Scott, D. 2012. Which plant traits determine abundance under long-term shifts in soil resource availability and grazing intensity. Journal of Ecology: doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01947.x
Williams A, Ridgway, H.J. & Norton, D.A. 2012. Different arbuscular mycorrhizae and competition with exotic grass affect the growth of Podocarpus cunninghamii Colenso cuttings. New Forests: DOI 10.1007/s11056-012-9309-9
Laliberté, E, Lambers, H., Norton, D.A., Tylianakis, J.M. & Huston, M.A. 2012. A long-term experimental test of the dynamic equilibrium model of species diversity. Oecologia: in press.
Toose, E.R., Clinton, P.W., Beare, M.H. & Norton, D.A. 2012. Biodegradation of soluable organic matter as affected by land-use and soil depth. Soil Science Society of America Journal: in press doi:10.2136/sssaj2011.0437
Williams, A., Norton, D.A. & Ridgeway, H.J. 2012. Different arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculants affect the growth and survival of Podocarpus cunninghamii restoration plantings in the Mackenzie Basin, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany: in press doi:10.1080/0028825X.2012.672429
Steer M.A. & Norton, D.A. 2013. Factors influencing abundance of invasive hawkweeds, Hieracium species, in tall tussock grasslands in the Canterbury high country. New Zealand Journal of Botany: in press.de Lange, P, Heenan, P, Norton, D., Rolfe, J & Sawyer, J. 2010. Threatened Plants of New Zealand. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch. 471 pp.
Norton, D. & Reid, N. 2013. Nature and Farming. Sustaining Native Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. 304 pp. In press.