General: Area and Methods

Covering an area of over 3,250 square kilometres (1,250 square miles), the Hauraki Gulf lies between 36° 13′ and 37° 14′ South Latitude, and between 174° 40′ and 175° 32′ East Longitude. The area includes Waitemata (Auckland) Harbour to the west, the Firth of Thames to the south, and is flanked on the eastern side by the Coromandel Peninsula. Great Barrier Island forms the north-eastern boundary, and Little Barrier Island provides the only land mass between the Gulf and the Pacific Ocean directly northward. To the west the Gulf is bounded by the shores of the mainland (North Auckland Peninsula) as far as Cape Rodney (Fig. 1)

Observations were made mostly from March, 1949, to December, 1950. At each station notes were made of the distinctive type of zonation and community complex (Part II, p. 22) in relation to the more obvious environmental factors peculiar to the locality. Some places have received more attention than others, depending on accessibility, time available for studying and local tides and weather