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Seventy five percent of New Zealand's surface is mountainous or hilly. Total forested land accounts for 7,884,000 ha, which is 29% of New Zealand's land base. Native forests account for 23.1% of New Zealand's land base and the remainder 6 percent is non-native forest. Throughout New Zealand native forest has an upper altitudinal limit of about 1000 m above sea level. Below this, forest may be dominant, but above 1000m forest is likely to give way to low alpine dominated by tussock or scrub/shrub dominated communities. The upper limit for tussock or scrub dominated landscape are areas that average 8.5°C MWMt (minimum mean warmest month temperature), roughly 500 vertical metres higher than native forest. At higher altitudes, which are below 8.5°C MWMt, it is assumed that tussock or scrub dominated land cover gives way to bare ground, which is covered in snow during the winter months and summer months at very high altitudes.
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