Riverine trees and shrubs
Book Chapter ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
[Extract] From coastal estuaries to the vast floodplains of the arid interior, woody plants can be found in a wide range of riverine habitats throughout Australia. Although often absent from areas that experience frequent and prolonged flooding, as well as many saline wetlands of inland Australia (Specht 1990), trees and shrubs form a considerable diversity of riverine vegetation communities across the continent including closed and open forests, woodlands and shrub lands, in addition to many areas dominated by herbaceous vegetation that also support scattered trees and shrubs. Despite this structural diversity, woody riparian vegetation in Australia is often locally dominated by one to a few species, many of which are also widespread across the continent (e.g. Eucalyptus camaldulensis, river red gum) (Capon and Dowe 2007). Among these are a handful of rheophytes (e.g. Casuarina cunninghamiana, river she-oak) adapted to growing in swiftly flowing waters as well as trees and shrubs characteristic of marginal flood-plain habitats that may be inundated less frequently than once a decade (e.g. E. largiflorens, black box), but nevertheless rely on inundation for their survival. Wherever woody plants occur in riverine landscapes, however, and in whatever form, they play an integral role in shaping the environments of which they are a part – physically, ecologically and culturally.
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Vegetation of Australian Riverine Landscapes: biology, ecology and management
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ISBN/ISSN
978-0-643-09631-8
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Pages Count
22
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Publisher
CSIRO Publishing
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Publisher Location
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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