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Australia has approximately 11,500 km2 of mangroves, primarily on the northern and eastern coasts of the continent.〔 Areas where mangroves occur include the intertidal zone of tropical, subtropical and protected temperate coastal rivers, estuaries, bays and marine shorelines.〔 Less than 1% of Australia's total forest area is mangrove forest.〔 Although mangroves are typically found in tropical and subtropical tidal areas,〔(Mangal (Mangrove). ''World Vegetation''. Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, University of California at Los Angeles )〕 there are occurrences as far south as Millers Landing in Wilsons Promontory, Victoria (38°54′S), Barker Inlet in Adelaide, South Australia and Leschenault Inlet, near Bunbury, Western Australia. Nearly half of Australia's mangrove forests are found in Queensland (44% of Australia's total), followed by the Northern Territory (37%) and Western Australia (17%).〔 In Western Australia, populations of mangroves are scattered down the coast; the population of the Abrolhos Islands is 300 kilometres south of the nearest population of Shark Bay, and the population at Bunbury is even further south than this (500 km). The Bunbury colonisation may have occurred relatively recently, perhaps only several thousand years ago, with propagules transferred by the Leeuwin Current. The most inland occurrence of mangroves in Australia is a stand of grey mangroves in the Mandora Marsh, some 60 km from the coast. ==Flora== Australian mangrove forests comprise 45 plant species from 18 families, which is more than half the world's mangrove species. One tree species, ''Avicennia integra'', is found only in Australia - in the Northern Territory, east of Darwin.〔 Each mangrove tree species is specific to particular latitudes and levels of tidal inundation.〔 The greatest diversity of species is found in the far northern and north-eastern areas of Australia, and declines rapidly with increasing latitude. For example, Darwin Harbour, in the north of Australia, contains 36 mangrove tree species, while Bunbury, in the south, contains only one mangrove tree species. There are no mangroves in Tasmania.〔 The most widespread and common mangrove tree in Australia is the grey mangrove or white mangrove (''Avicennia marina'').〔 Mangrove forests also support several salt-tolerant plant species which are not classed as mangroves. In tropical areas, this may include the mangrove palm (''Nypa fruticans''), the mangrove fern (''Acrostichum speciosum''), and orchids which grow as epiphytes on the trunks and branches of mangrove trees.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.daff.gov.au/brs/publications/series/forest-profiles/australian_forest_profiles_mangroves )〕 Other plants found in association with mangroves include the mangrove lily (''Crinum pedunculatum''). Mangrove forests share the high intertidal zone niche with coastal or intertidal saltmarshes; plant communities dominated by salt-resistant or salt-tolerant herbs and low shrubs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Australian mangroves」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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