Mangrove species diversity and zonation in northern Australia

Transects were established in tidal forests in a series of embayments, rivers and islands between the tip of Cape York and Hinchinbrook Island. The transects were distributed so as to attempt to reveal the entire spectrum of floristic character likely to be found between the full influence of the coastal sea, and upstream and landward limits of tidal range. The complete dataset comprised 1391 individual sites. Over 40 plant species are now known to occur in the mangrove communities of northeastern Australia, and 35 of these were encountered in this survey. Several taxa, which are not normally considered members of a mangrove flora are included because of their utility as indicators. This research was undertaken to develop a better understanding of the mangrove vegetation in Australia by exploring the utility of classificatory techniques in describing mangrove vegetation to provide an overview account of mangrove forest diversity in northeastern Australia. The data lists species occurrences along transects at various locations as well as, for a number of the sites, information on their topographic heights above specified datum levels.