When there is a disturbance severe enough to favour its regeneration, kauri trees regenerate en masse, producing a generation of trees of similar age after each disturbance. The distribution of kauri allows researchers to deduce when and where disturbances have occurred, and how large they may have been; the presence of abundant kauri may indicate that an area is prone to disturbance. Kauri seedlings still occur in areas with low light, of course, but mortality rates for such seedlings are much higher, and those that survive self-thinning and grow to sapling stage tend to be found in higher light environments.