King Sound

Estuary Information: OzCoasts

View Mangroves and Saltmarshes of Australia in a larger map

The north of King Sound, flanked by pre-Quaternary rocks and vegetated sand dunes, has rocky coastlines and narrow tidal flats; to the south it is flanked by a hinterland of vegetated red sand dunes, grassy alluvial plains and broad tidal flat ... These tidal flats can be zoned into several units based on geomorphology and vegetation; extending from a hinterland of sand dunes, these are: (1) supratidal flats and saltmarsh flats, (2) salt flats, (3) mangal and saltmarsh flats, (4) inclined slope, (5) low-tidal flats [1]

Mangrove Zonation

There is a seaward Avicennia marina fringe, an interior forest of Rhizophora stylosa, a zone of Ceriops tagal and a landward fringe of stunted Avicennia marina, followed further to landward by salt marsh and salt flats (Tecticornia halocnemoides, Tecticornia indica, Batis argillicola, Hemichroa diandra, Suaeda australis, Threlkeldia diffusa and Sporobolus virginicus). Camptostemon schultzii, Aegiceras corniculatum and Aegialitis annulata make important contributions. (amended from [1])

Sites

King Sound
Site	Latitude	Longitude	Source
3 site
Derby Wharf	17?23'S	123?40'E	[2]
Hunter Creek	16?23'S	122?59'E	[2], as Hunter River
King Sound	16?49'S	123?28'E	[1]

Note: where latitudes and longitudes were not provided in the Source, they have been derived from the Australian Gazetteer. Where individual sites can be precisely located, these are shown as yellow markers. Blue markers represent the estuary location as per OzCoasts.

Mangrove and Saltmarsh Species

King Sound
Group	Taxon	Source
	17 taxa
Vascular Plants	Aegialitis annulata	[1]
Vascular Plants	Aegiceras corniculatum	[1]
Vascular Plants	Avicennia marina	[2], as Avicennia spp.
Vascular Plants	Batis argillicola	[1]
Vascular Plants	Bruguiera exaristata	[1]
Vascular Plants	Camptostemon schultzii	[1]
Vascular Plants	Ceriops tagal	[1]
Vascular Plants	Excoecaria agallocha	[1]
Vascular Plants	Hemichroa diandra	[1]
Vascular Plants	Osbornia octodonta	[1]
Vascular Plants	Rhizophora stylosa	[1]
Vascular Plants	Sporobolus_virginicus	[1]
Vascular Plants	Suaeda australis	[1]
Vascular Plants	Tecticornia halocnemoides	[1] (as Arthrocnemum halocnemoides)
Vascular Plants	Tecticornia indica	[1] (as Arthrocnemum leiostachyum)
Vascular Plants	Threlkeldia diffusa	[1]
Vascular Plants	Xylocarpus moluccensis	[1] (as X. australasicus)

References

1. Semeniuk, V. (1980). Mangrove zonation along an eroding coastline in King Sound, north-western Australia. Journal of Ecology 68: 789-812. Available online: (more)
2. Boto, K.G., Bunt, J.S. and Wellington, J.T. (1984). Variations in mangrove forest productivity in northern Australia and Papua New Guinea. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 19(3): 321-329. Available online: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WDV-4DV0KPV-CY&_user=2322062&_coverDate=09,2F30,2F1984&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1655468263&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000056895&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=2322062&md5=09397a6e327acf15899ed3f7ddc83a82&searchtype=a (more)

-- JohnBusby - 14 Feb 2011