In Australia, mangroves reach as far south as Corner Inlet at the very bottom of Victoria and are almost the
southernmost mangroves in the world. The mangroves described
in this post, were only 40 km further north at Western Port Bay which is an internationally important wetland.
I wanted to know what mangroves are like at the extreme end of their distribution and
how they compare to tropical mangroves? Which mangrove fauna and flora species are missing and which remain at the geographical limits of existence?
I found the mangrove
ecosystem in Western Port Bay to be as simple as a mangrove ecosystem can get. However, the saltmarsh behind the
mangroves is sensational. There is a riot of colour and visual texture.
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The saltmarsh stretches to the horizon |
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Jellybeans (Disphyma crassifolium) |
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Selligera |
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Triglochin |
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Samolus repens |
The saltmarsh in early summer is a vibrant carpet of green as it is really a seasonal freshwater wetland that is watered by groundwater. In winter the rainfall is slightly more than summer and the evaporation rate is low, so groundwater rises to the surface. At least twenty species of succulents and grasses contest every patch of space. In the saltmarsh, there is even an understorey of miniature species growing below the canopy of small shrubs and herbs. Between the inner saltmarsh and the mangroves is a wide band of tall succulent bushes belonging to the saltbush family.
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Metre high thicket of Tecticornia arbuscula |
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Close up of succulent stems of Tecticornia arbuscula |
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Tiny flowering daisies grow between triglochin plants |
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Other tiny daisies are almost all flowerhead |
The best place to see mangroves and saltmarsh in Victoria is at Hastings on the Mornington Peninsula. There is a saltmarsh and mangrove boardwalk which is a few kilometres long and there is also a carefully maintained coastal grassland which also has tracks. Having boardwalks is fortunate as the mangroves are shrubby and as thick as a hedge.
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Native coastal grassland |
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Warringine Park Boardwalk |
As this part of the
world has cool wet winters, there is a season excess of groundwater
that flows through the sandy soil and emerges within the saltmarsh.
In summer, the groundwater levels fall and the regular 3 m tides can
flood the area with seawater. Hence the plants that are present all
need to be tolerant of salinity. There were no salt pans, however,
which makes this ecosystem markedly different from saltmarshes or
samphire flats in Queensland.
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With 3 metre tides, the creeks are quite deep yet narrow |
In shallow lagoons,
black swans would feed on aquatic plants. Wrens and honeyeaters
would flitter around in the succulents. Birdlife reaches its peak on
the mudflats and seagrass bed beyond the mangroves and thousands of
ducks feed in the shallows.
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Black swans feeding on aquatic vegetation (Lepilaena sp.) |
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White ibis |
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White-eared honeyeater |
Crabs species are
very few. There appears to be only 4 species of crab, of which only
one species is abundant. This main species is the semiphore crab and
it occupies all of the niches from sand flats beyond the seaward
fringe to the upper intertidal. It only needs regular seawater
inundation to thrive. It is a surface feeder like fiddler crabs.
Fiddler crabs are conspicuous by the absence and the Queensland mud
crab is also. The other mangrove crabs are opportunistic feeders and
would feed on algae, dead insects and possibly mangrove propagules.
In the adjacent forest, I found fox poo full of crab shells, so the
crabs need to be fast at escaping predators including both native ones like ibis and introduced like foxes.
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Adult semephore crab (Heloecius cordiformis) |
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Red-fingered marsh crab (Parasesarma erythrodactylum) |
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Fox poo with crab shells in it |
Common fish within
the mangroves seem to be limited to yellow-eye mullet and smooth toad
fish. Tiny gobies are present in the creeks but as herons are
abundant, they zoom of rapidly when they see you. Molluscs were also
limited to two species of pea-sized snail that feed on the mud surface.
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Smooth toadfish |
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Salinator snails |
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Ophicardelus ornatus snails |
In the seaward mangroves,
the lower trunks have barnacles and support a species of gastropod, which
feeds on the algal turf growing at the base of the trunk. The
mangroves look healthy although some places had sooty mold
infestations on the leaves and scale insects. That is a possible
sign of environmental stress.
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At the seaward fringe, the Avicennia marina mangroves reach about 3-5 m |
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Barnacles on a seaward mangrove |
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Sooty mold on mangrove leaves, white dots are scale insects |
Beyond the mangroves
are yabby flats and sea grass beds. Wading birds were not present
when I was there in November. Wading birds actually take time to move down
the Queensland coast so appear in Victoria much later than they do in
Queensland. Instead, ducks, herons, cormorants and sea gulls and
black swans were present in numbers.
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Seagrass beds are exposed at low tide |
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Ducks grazing in seagrass meadows |
The sand flats are
soft and you quickly find yourself knee deep in sediment. Dead
bivalve shells are abundant within the ground and over the surface.
The seagrass beds trap a layer of warm water at low tide and I wonder
if this helps the biota escape from the cold for time. Staying
upright whilst moving through the soft ground of the seagrass beds
was difficult and in the few metres I could survey, I did not find
any fauna.
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The marine yabbies are so abundant, they made the ground soft |
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Stingrays bring old shells to the surface when the make hollows |
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Underwater photos of the seagrass bed |
Deeper in Western
Port Bay, there must be substantial populations of fish as near the
boat ramps, were dozens of large fish skeletons. Giant seagulls pick
away at them.
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Juvenile Pacific Gull - these things are seriously over-engineered |