Coastal Plants: A Guide to the Identification and Restoration of Plants of the Perth Region
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Coastal Plants also contains introductory chapters on the biology and ecology of the coastal plants, their biogeography, and practical approaches to the restoration of coastal dune vegetation.
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Coastal Plants - Kingsley Dixon
Part 1
Ecology and biology of plants of the west coast
Australia is more biodiverse than 98% of other countries. As one of the 19 megabiodiverse countries on earth, Australia, through its 65 million years of evolutionary isolation as the island continent, developed species and ecosystems that are world class and unique – 80% of our plant and animal species are found only in Australia. For the biodiversity hotspot of south-west Western Australia the uniqueness of the biodiversity is even higher with 99% of species unique to the region.
As a result of these long periods of genetic isolation, Australia’s biodiversity has adapted in remarkable ways to some of the world’s poorest soils and most hostile environments. Understanding how Australian species operate ecologically presents challenges, particularly where conservation of biodiversity is involved.
A consequence of our unique species and ecosystems is the often flawed principle of adopting conservation, restoration and management approaches from other regions of the world and applying them in the Australian context. Such practices ignore the complex and often unique ecological processes that drive diversity and function in Australian, and particularly south-west Australian native ecosystems.
Resolving effective means for developing the knowledge base to protect, manage and rehabilitate Australia’s unique species and ecosystems represents a significant challenge for conservation and restoration scientists and practitioners. Nowhere else is this more evident than for the fragile coastal fringe of south-west Western Australia where the intersection between human activities and ecological disruption pervade most ecosystems, particularly coastal areas. And with more than 80% of Australians now living in cities or within 80 km of the coast, the impacts of human activity on coastal biodiversity is resulting in significant alteration in ecological function, resilience and species survival.
The Western Australian coast
The Western Australian coastline hosts a remarkable 1227 vascular plant species, about the same number of species as found in the entire British Isles, with just over 10% (166 species) considered weeds (adapted from Beard 1990).* This equates to the richest and most diverse native biodiversity of any mediterranean coastal region. The reasons for such richness are unclear but are possibly linked to the extraordinary diversity of the coastal hinterland that acted as the potential donor region for many coastal species.
Species richness can be looked at in other ways. For example, the number of species that are unique to an ecosystem (endemic) reflects soil qualities, evolutionary processes (ecological isolation, geological stability, phylogeny, breeding biology) and continental/regional isolation. Figure 1 shows the uniqueness values for coastal species at the Western Australian and Australian levels (from Beard 1990). The data show that aquatic species have a more cosmopolitan distribution followed by species of the littoral zone (i.e. near coastal habitats) with dune species (those of consolidated or moderately mobile sediments) having the highest levels of endemism for the coastal zone.
The terrestrial component of the Perth coast is a rich resource of biodiversity. With 147 species of native plants found in the dunes of the Perth metropolitan coast, the plant resources provide almost year-round flowering, fruiting, seeding and habitat opportunities for the abundant insect, reptile and bird life.
Although the number of species in the Perth coastal dunes is low compared to other inland areas of the Swan Coastal Plain or areas of equivalent size such as Mt Lesueur National Park (860 native flowering plant species), coastal dune plants exhibit remarkable diversity in growth form and adaptability to the stringencies of life on the coast. For example, the 10 major plant families (in terms of species number and abundance) found in Western Australia retain representative species in the dune vegetation including the Myrtaceae, Proteaceae, Fabaceae/Mimosaceae, Goodeniaceae, Ericaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae, Orchidaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Liliaceae (sens. lat.).
Compared with inland ecosystems, why are coastal dune ecosystems so species poor? An underpinning principle relates to the long periods of time necessary for inheritable adaptive traits to develop and resolve new species on new soil types and substrates. Since the coastal alkaline soils of the west coast are geologically recent (tens of thousands of years compared to the more ancient (tens of millions of years) substrates of the species-rich hinterland), insufficient time has elapsed for evolution of species adapted to the unique pH and structure of coastal soils and substrates (i.e. limestone).
Figure 1. Percentage endemism of coastal species for Western Australia and Australia based on the three key ecosystems: aquatic (plants living in water including emergents); littoral zone (between high water and low water mark often on margins of estuaries, lakes and rivers); and coastal dunes including consolidated and mobile sands.
Protecting and enhancing the unique diversity of plants and animals in the coastal dune belt often represents a major, resource intensive undertaking. The ecological footprint of humans along the Western Australian coast is most pronounced within the metropolitan region of Perth. Direct impacts through infrastructure developments (housing, roads, beach development, groynes) and indirect impacts (such as invasive plants, feral animals, fire, erosion, and pests and diseases) have contributed to the rapid decline in the ecological integrity of dune ecosystems. For example, most metropolitan coastal dunes with remaining natural plant cover have some form of ecological disturbance, either through direct physical impacts, weed incursion, feral animals or development. Weeds have capitalised on both natural and artificial disturbances in plant communities in dunes with highly invasive species such as the South African rose pelargonium (Pelargonium capitatum) and the diminutive annual Crassula glomerata found almost universally in dunes along much of the west coast.
As with many other ecosystems in the south-west Australian biodiversity hotspot (an area roughly delimited by a line from Shark Bay to Eucla), disturbance and weeds represent major ecological perturbations that result in significant ecological dysfunction. Dedicated and well-resourced management over the long term is necessary to return disturbed coastal areas to a level of natural ecological resilience.
Conservation planning
Ecological alteration of coastal dune habitats often outstrips restoration efforts. Redressing this imbalance and creating coastal environments where there is a zero net impact on native biodiversity values remains a significant challenge for planning agencies. However, unlike many other Australian capital cities, Perth has a number of significant coastal environments that retain some level of ecological integrity. The most significant and intact coastal ecosystems include: Warnbro Sound, Garden Island, Rottnest Island, Point Peron and Woodman Point, some margins of Cockburn Sound, Campbell Barracks (Dept. of Defence), Bold Park, Town of Cambridge, City of Stirling, Whitford Nodes and a number of significant areas in the City of Joondalup including Ocean Reef marina and northwards.
Planning efforts along the coast have resulted in a significant number of studies (Coasts WA: Better Integration. The Western Australian Government’s Response to the Coastal Taskforce Review (2003); Draft Coastal Zone Management Policy (Dept. of Planning and Infrastructure, 2001); State Coastal Planning Policy (SPP No. 2.6) (WA Government, 2003), Coastal Planning Strategy, 2008) however most on-ground activities for protection and enhancement of biodiversity values rely on local authority planning and management plans.
It is important that coastal management is guided by well-considered coastal management plans that directly address for specified coastal localities the protection of biodiversity and ecological values while providing leading practice guidelines for coastal restoration activities. Generic restoration guides are provided through the Western Australian Planning Commission and Coastwest (e.g. the Coastal Planning and Management Manual); however, local management plans are necessary to achieve sustainable interaction between conservation and use of the coastal strip as well as address locally unique issues such as access and use of coastal resources, erosion control, and protection of locally endemic biodiversity and unique ecosystems. A good example of an effective, local coastal planning document is the Town of Cambridge Coastal Natural Areas Management Plan that guides coastal management adapted to local issues yet is regionally and nationally benchmarked. Importantly, coastal management plans benefit from community engagement in the development and implementation of the plan with the community providing volunteer support for restoration activities through local volunteer organisations such as Coastcare.
Planning for the future of our coastline will benefit from working hand-in-hand with protection and enhancement of the natural and biodiversity values of the zone. In this way, future generations will enjoy our unique and diverse coastal landscapes – a coastline that still today retains significant areas in an undeveloped state and with high biodiversity conservation values.
The Perth coast
Perth’s coastline is world-renowned. Expanses of white sandy beaches interspersed with limestone headlands and promontories, reefs and dune vegetation create natural coastal landscapes that are world-class, but are also fragile.
Equal to the beauty of the Perth coastline is the abundance and diversity of marine and coastal life that is among the richest of any temperate coastal environment. For example, 14 species of seagrass including the most southerly distribution of the tropical species Syringodium isoetifolium occur in our coastal waters making it a global hotspot for seagrass diversity. These rich assemblages of seagrass species in turn have led to extensive seagrass meadows along the coast that provide stabilisation of beaches and important habitat for marine life.
The dynamic action of successive sea level changes provide the Perth coast with swale-based lake systems (such as near Warnboro Sound), extensive protective offshore reef systems and islands that provide important habitats for marine birds and mammals (Figure 2).
The pH of coastal substrates ranges from acidic on the most leached eastern parts becoming progressively more alkaline in the adjacent Spearwood Dunes with highly alkaline soils found in the youngest geomorphological element, the Quindalup Dunes. It is the plant species of the Quindalup Dunes, coastal sands and associated limestone outcrops that form much of the basis for this book as these plant communities are subjected to the highest levels of human impact and population pressure.
Figure 2. Southern metropolitan coastline at Rockingham showing submerged marine reef systems and off-shore islands that play a role in protecting in-shore marine and coastal environments and contribute to the geomorphology of the coast. For example, accreting sediments and changes in sea level have resulted in impounded lake systems that are a feature of the Quindalup and Spearwood geological systems.
The Swan Coastal Plain
The Swan Coastal Plain is an extensive depositional, mostly sandy plain extending from Eneabba to Dunsborough. Up to 20 km wide, the Swan Coastal Plain is bounded on the east by the Darling Range, an escarpment that forms the western edge of the continental bedrock of the Precambrian Australian Shield and abruptly ends in the west with the relatively young coastal dunes of the Quindalup complex.
The Swan Coastal Plain is a low-lying (rarely above 80 metres high) undulating region largely composed of shoreline deposits and alluvium from erosion of the continental materials with deposits up to 15 km deep in parts. Whereas the Australian Shield is 3.5 billion years old, the Swan Coastal Plain is relatively young, ranging from more than 120 000 years old (the Bassendean Dunes) to the 2000–10 000 year old Quindalup Dunes.
The Swan Coastal Plain has accreted more or less from east to west with repeated marine incursions and repositioning of the coast leading to a system of roughly parallel terrestrial dunes and submerged marine reefs and off-shore islands. Rises and falls in sea level particularly in the last 10 000 years has given Perth much of its distinctive coastal geomorphology. For example, the north-south linearity of off-shore islands in the Perth region reflect past beachfronts.
Sea-level change has been a key factor in the formation of the topography and local geomorphology of the Swan Coastal Plain. The dynamic interplay of increasing and subsiding sea levels over thousands of years has provided the Perth coast with diverse geomorphological features.
The Quindalup Dune geological system gives rise to the distinctive mounded coastal dune vegetation comprising low heath and swale thickets interspersed with patches of white sand.
Quindalup Dune geomorphology is characterised by an extensive linear series of north-south dunes up to several kilom wide in places accreted from successive deposition of marine shoreline deposits resulting from sea-level changes over tens of thousands of years.
During the last glacial maximum 18 000 years ago, sea level was 120 metres below the present level with much of the now submerged continental shelf exposed and vegetated. The shoreline was up to 20 kilom further west with Rottnest Island resembling Bold Park or Kings Park nestled on a vast, mostly flat vegetated sandplain.
Rising sea levels in the past 11 000 years (at a rate of 1 metre each 100 years) gradually isolated limestone outcrops to form Perth’s offshore islands with Rottnest Island losing connection to the Perth coast 5000–6000 years ago. Placing this in context, a 1 cm rise in sea level equates to a 1 metre retreat of the shoreline.* Archaeological investigation of Aboriginal occupation of Rottnest Island shows that the last dated use of the island was around 6500 years ago, and most likely coincides with submersion of the land bridge to the mainland.
The natural forces driving development of the coastline include:
• Climate.
• Rainfall of 600–870 mm with 70% between May and August.
• High evaporation rates particularly in summer when rainfall is uncommon.
• High winds (south-westerly sea-breezes and storm front north-westerlies).
• Sea level changes.
• Tides – particularly high tides in combination with strong winds.
• Storm activity – particularly wind driven storm surges.
• Wave action.
• Onshore and offshore sediment movement.
• High or low wave energy conditions.
• Currents.
• Southerly flowing near-shore Leeuwin current.
Dunes
Rising to 60 metres, the Quindalup Dunes are the primary barrier protecting nearby inland areas from tidal and storm surges with the resultant stability enabling a wide variety of native animals and plants to survive hostile coastal conditions.
Plants as storytellers of geomorphology
Changes in soil acidity (pH) have played a major role in forming the plant species associations of the Swan Coastal Plain. This is no more evident than in the two most prominent families in the south-west, the eucalypt (Myrtaceae) and banksia (Proteaceae) families. Though both families occur throughout the Swan Coastal Plain there is a transition in species from east to west – with five Banksia species co-dominant with marri (Corymbia calophylla) and mainly jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) in the older sediments. However, in the younger Spearwood Dunes, banksia species’ diversity declines and the dominant eucalypt is the alkaline tolerant tuart (Eucalyptus gomphocephala). The change in species is primarily linked to soil pH – with the acid-loving banksias abundant in the older and more leached soils in eastern geomorphological elements. This is reflected in the inability of banksia and jarrah to thrive if planted in the alkaline soils of the Quindalup Dunes. Chlorotic Decline Syndrome, where severe yellowing of leaves and stag-heading of trees ultimately leads to the death of fully mature remnant woodland trees is a physiological phenomenon demonstrated to be linked to the use of of alkaline bore water for irrigation – the higher pH and calcium levels starving the plants of manganese and leading to symptoms reminiscent of iron deficiency (Figure 3). Tuart, the dominant eucalypt of the alkaline Quindalup Dunes and adapted to alkaline soils and water, is resistant to the malaise. Treatment includes moderating the pH of irrigation water and/or application of mineral supplements.
Figure 3. Chlorotic Decline Syndrome is a prominent feature where alkaline groundwater is used to irrigate remnant native trees, particularly along the coastal strip as seen here in the yellowing leaves on jarrah trees in an irrigated coastal reserve.
The Quindalup Dunes are characterised by:
• Highly mobile beach strands, often with transient low dunes.
• Frontal dunes (facing the sea) that are subject to episodic erosion (blowouts).
• Secondary dunes (stable, mostly with a continuous cover of vegetation).
• Transgressive dunes (extensive blowouts of mobile sand) resulting from major, episodic events. (See Figure 4.)
Quindalup Dune morphology is also affected by the ecological attributes of individual plant species including plant responses to high winds, salt, sand accretion and erosion. For example, the ability of species to trap sand and bind soil that leads to dune-building capacity varies considerably. For example Spinifex hirsutus binds soil with an expansive foraging rhizome system while the wind and salt-spray resistant