Australian Saltmarsh Ecology

Abstract

Australia, including its territorial islands, is surrounded by almost 60 000 km of coastline (Geoscience Australia, http://www.ga.gov.au/education/) and, according to Saintilan, coastal saltmarshes occupy some 16 000 km2. Saltmarshes provide valuable ecosystem services and are generally recognized as among the most productive ecosystems on Earth. This is considered to be ecologically important because excess detrital matter exported to marine waters sustains food webs, including important fisheries (i.e., Odum?s [1980] ?outwelling hypothesis?). Although physically and biologically similar to saltmarshes elsewhere, Australian coastal saltmarshes have certain unique characteristics (e.g., the tidal zonation of marsh and mangroves and levels of productivity) that natural resource managers need to be aware of. Perhaps more so than elsewhere, the great majority of the Australian population lives along or near the coast. Consequently, Australian saltmarsh environments have been subject to significant human-driven change since European settlement. In spite of these compelling facts, Australian publications remain under-represented relative to the extent of saltmarsh on the continent. Australian Saltmarsh Ecology does much to correct this situation.