scholarly journals Accelerated Sea-Level Rise Limits Vegetation Capacity to Sequester Soil Carbon in Coastal Wetlands a Study Case in South-Eastern Australia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Sandi ◽  
Jose Rodriguez ◽  
Patricia Saco ◽  
Neil Saintilan ◽  
Gerardo Riccardi
1991 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 263 ◽  
Author(s):  
WW Hsieh ◽  
BV Hamon

Using four decades of hydrographic data collected off the coast near Sydney, New South Wales, and sea-level data at Sydney, we studied the interannual variability in south-eastern Australian shelf waters. The first two empirical orthogonal function (EOF) modes of the band-pass-filtered 50-m-depth hydrographic data (temperature, T; salinity, S; nitrate, N; inorganic phosphate, P; and oxygen, O) and the sea level (SL) and adjusted sea level (ASL) data accounted respectively for 51 and 27% of the total variance. Both modes were significantly correlated with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). The first mode, with T, S, O and ASL varying in opposition to N and P, represented the internal or baroclinic response, associated with vertical displacements of the isopycnals. The second mode, with large in-phase fluctuations in SL and ASL but small changes in the hydrographic variables, represented mainly the external or barotropic response during the El Niiio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Three-year composites centred around seven ENSO warm episodes revealed that T, S, O and ASL were generally low and N, P, SL and SO1 were high in the year before each ENSO warm episode, but the former group rose while the latter group dropped in the year of the warm episode. The changes in the hydrographic variables at 50 m depth were consistent with relatively shallow isopycnals in the year before the ENSO warm episode, followed by a deepening of the isopycnals during the warm episode. Estimates of this downward displacement of isopycnals, as determined from T, N, P and O, were in the range 7-10 m. The geostrophic wind arising from the pressure fluctuations during ENSO is proposed as a probable cause for the vertical displacement of the isopycnals. In the year before the warm episode, the low air pressure over Australia would produce a clockwise geostrophic wind around south-eastern Australia, generating offshore Ekman transport and coastal upwelling. During the warm episode, air pressure over Australia rises, the geostrophic wind reverses, and downward movement of the isopycnals would occur off south-eastern Australia.


2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Hurst ◽  
Paul I. Boon

It is often assumed that saline coastal wetlands experience environmental conditions so severe that they are largely immune to invasion by exotic plant species. The belief is implicit in many older reviews of threats to mangroves and coastal saltmarshes, where a limited range of vascular plant taxa, often focussing on *Spartina, (throughout the paper an asterisk denotes an introduced (exotic) species as per Carr 2012) have been invoked as the major species of concern. Even though the weed flora of southern Australia is derived largely from agriculture and horticulture, neither of which includes many species tolerant of waterlogged, variably saline environments, a recent assessment of Victorian saline coastal wetlands indicated that exotic plants were the third-most pervasive threat, after land ‘reclamation’ and grazing. Tall wheat grass, *Lophopyrum ponticum (Podp.) A.Love., is one of the most severe and widely distributed weeds of saline coastal wetlands in south-eastern Australia. It is promoted by the agricultural extension arm of the Victorian government as a salt-tolerant pasture grass; however, its broad ecological amplitude and robust life form make it a most serious invader of upper saltmarsh in Victoria. We assessed the effectiveness of different control measures, including slashing and herbicides, for the management of *L. ponticum infestations (and their side effects on saltmarsh communities) in the Western Port region of Victoria. A nominally monocot-specific herbicide widely used to control *Spartina, Fluazifop-P, was ineffective in controlling *L. ponticum. The broad-spectrum systemic herbicide glyphosate was more effective in controlling *L. ponticum, but had undesirable impacts on native plant species. Controlling weeds in coastal wetlands using available herbicides for use near coastal waterways would seem to remain problematic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 245 ◽  
pp. 106949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirti K. Lal ◽  
Carla Bonetti ◽  
Colin D. Woodroffe ◽  
Kerrylee Rogers

2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall W. Robinson ◽  
Paul I. Boon ◽  
Nina Sawtell ◽  
Elizabeth A. James ◽  
Robert Cross

The production of hypocotyl hairs in the early stages of seedling development can strongly influence the success with which plants recruit sexually in harsh environments. Although wetlands are one type of environment in which seedlings might be expected to develop hypocotyl hairs, there have been few studies of these structures in the woody aquatic plants. We investigated the production of hypocotyl hairs in Melaleuca ericifolia Sm., a small wetland tree widely distributed across swampy coastal areas of south-eastern Australia, in relation to water availability, salinity, temperature and light regime. Hypocotyl hairs were ~20 mm long × 30 μm wide; in contrast, root hairs were generally less than 5 mm long and 15 μm wide. Hypocotyl hairs were produced only under a narrow range of environmental conditions—low salinity, low water availability, moderate temperature, and darkness—and seedlings that failed to produce hypocotyl hairs did not survive. Since the conditions under which hypocotyl hairs were produced were at least as, and possibly even more, restricted than those required for successful germination of seeds, it is likely that the successful sexual recruitment of M. ericifolia would be rare and episodic under conditions existing in most coastal wetlands in south-eastern Australia.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Francke ◽  
Anthony Dosseto ◽  
Matt Forbes ◽  
Haidee Cadd ◽  
Julia Short ◽  
...  

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 81 ◽  
Author(s):  
AJ Murray

THE spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) is the largest carnivorous marsupial extant on mainland Australia, where it has a fragmented distribution in forested habitats in the eastern part of the continent. This species is also found in Tasmania. D. maculatus have been found in a wide variety of forest types from sea level to over 1400 m above sea level, in areas generally receiving in excess of 600 mm of rainfall (Mansergh 1983). The distribution of D. maculatus is believed to have declined by over 50% following European settlement (Mansergh 1983).


2001 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-278
Author(s):  
Catherine J. Young ◽  
Peter B. Mcquillan

AbstractThe previously overlooked geometrid genus Palleopa Walker, which includes one described, widespread species: innotata, is reviewed. The genus has an eastern Bassian distribution, south of latitude 28°S, in the moist forests and woodlands of south eastern Australia from sea level to over 1000m. The distinctive larvae feed on the foliage of Eucalyptus trees. The immature stages are described and the life cycle is illustrated for the first time.


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