Mangrove forest structure and growth along the arid coast of the Pilbara region, Western Australia

Permanent plots were established in mangrove forests along the arid coast of the Pilbara region to enable long-term measurements of trunk growth, net biomass production and tree survival. Plots were located near Dampier, at Port Headland, in the Bay of Rest (Exmouth Gulf) and in Mangrove Bay (Cape Range National Park) and were chosen to encompass most of the important geomorphological settings in which mangrove forests occur in the Pilbara region. At each location, three to four permanent plots were established in canopy forests of Avicennia marina and Rhizophora stylosa, the dominant mangrove tree species in the region. All trees in each plot were tagged and measured. Where seedlings occurred in the understorey, they were also tagged to follow their growth and survival. Permanent study plots were established to:1. carry out long-term observational and experimental studies in the region and2. collect data to compare arid zone mangroves with the more studied, mangrove forests of the north eastern Australian humid tropics. This research was a component of the project: "The ecology of arid zone mangroves in northwestern Australia". The project was developed around the working hypothesis that regional mangrove forest structure and growth, mangrove-based food chains and soil biogeochemistry are strongly regulated by aridity. Research was designed to provide scientific information necessary to assess current and potential impacts of human activities on mangroves, including recovery from oil spills, heavy metal stress, changes in soil salinities from salt pond construction and sea level rise.Other components of the project include experiments to measure leaf fall and degradation within these forests and the determination of soil characteristics, including particle size, dissolved and particulate nutrients, salinity and heavy metal content, and microbial parameters such as bacterial sulfite reduction at each site.

本研究在皮尔巴拉（Pilbara）地区干旱沿岸的红树林（mangrove forests）中设立了永久样地（permanent plots），以开展树干生长、净生物量生产与树木存活情况的长期监测。
样地分别设于丹皮尔（Dampier）附近、黑德兰港（Port Headland）、休憩湾（埃克斯茅斯湾，Exmouth Gulf）以及曼格罗夫湾（开普山脉国家公园，Cape Range National Park），所选样地覆盖了皮尔巴拉地区红树林分布的绝大多数重要地貌环境。
每个点位均在该区域优势红树林树种——白骨壤（Avicennia marina）与红茄苳（Rhizophora stylosa）的冠层林内设立3至4块永久样地。每块样地内的所有成树均被标记并测量；若林下存在幼苗，也会对其进行标记以追踪其生长与存活情况。
设立永久研究样地的目的为：
1. 在该区域开展长期观测与实验研究；
2. 收集数据以对比干旱区红树林与研究较为充分的澳大利亚东北部湿润热带红树林。
本研究为“澳大利亚西北部干旱区红树林生态学”项目的组成部分。该项目以如下工作假说为核心：区域红树林的结构与生长、以红树林为基础的食物链以及土壤生物地球化学过程，均受干旱程度的强烈调控。
本研究旨在提供必要的科学信息，以评估人类活动对红树林的当前及潜在影响，涵盖红树林应对石油泄漏后的恢复能力、重金属胁迫、盐田建设引发的土壤盐度变化以及海平面上升等情形。
该项目的其他组成部分包括：开展森林内落叶量与降解过程的测定实验，以及测定各点位的土壤特性，具体包括粒径、溶解态与颗粒态营养盐、盐度与重金属含量，以及微生物参数（如细菌亚硫酸盐还原活性）。