Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T22:46:20.115Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Scale relationships and linkages between woody vegetation communities along a large tropical floodplain river, north Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 December 2009

Aaron M. Petty  and
Michael M. Douglas
Aaron M. Petty*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia
Michael M. Douglas
Affiliation:
Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge Research Hub, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia
*
1Corresponding author. Current address: School for Environmental and Life Sciences, Charles Darwin University. Email: syzygium@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Riparian vegetation varies according to hydrogeomorphic processes operating across different scales over two didmensions: transversely (across-stream) and longitudinally (parallel to stream). We tested the hypothesis that vegetation patterns reveal the scale and direction of underlying processes. We correlated patterns of dominant woody vegetation with environmental variables at 28 sites located within four geomorphologically distinct regions along the length of the South Alligator River catchment of Kakadu National Park, northern Australia. Across the catchment there existed a strong transverse boundary between upland savanna vegetation and two zones of riparian vegetation: Melaleuca-spp.-dominated closed-forest vegetation along stream channels and mixed open-woodland vegetation adjacent to closed forest. We surmise that there is hierarchic constraint on smaller-scale catchment processes due to fire incursion into the riparian zone and access to water during the dry season. Within the closed-forest zone, vegetation did not vary transversely, but did longitudinally. Riparian woodlands also varied longitudinally, but in the upper reaches varied independently of stream variables. By contrast, in the lower reaches woodland was strongly correlated with stream variables. The observed pattern of weak transverse linkages in headwaters but strong linkages in lower reaches is analogous to models developed for in-stream patterns and processes, particularly the river continuum and flood-pulse concepts.

Keywords

Flood-pulse concepthierarchical processesKakadu National Parklandscape patternMelaleucariparian fire regimesriver continuum concepttropical savannavegetation distributionwet–dry tropics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 79 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

BENDIX, J. 1994a. Scale, direction, and pattern in riparian vegetation environment relationships. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 84:652–665.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BENDIX, J. 1994b. Among-site variation in riparian vegetation of the Southern California Transverse Ranges. American Midland Naturalist 132:136–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BOWMAN, D. M. J. S. & DUNLOP, C. R. 1986. Vegetation pattern and environmental correlates in coastal forests of the Australian monsoon tropics. Vegetatio 65:99–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BOWMAN, D. M. J. S. & MCDONOUGH, L. 1991. Tree species distribution across a seasonally flooded elevation gradient in the Australian monsoon tropics. Journal of Biogeography 18:203–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BUSCH, D. E. 1995. Effects of fire on southwestern riparian plant community structure. Southwestern Naturalist 40:259–267.Google Scholar
BUSCH, D. E. & SMITH, S. D. 1995. Mechanisms associated with decline of woody species in riparian ecosystems of the southwestern US. Ecological Monographs 65:347–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CHURCH, M. 2002. Geomorphic thresholds in riverine landscapes. Freshwater Biology 47:541–557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CLARKE, K. R. & AINSWORTH, M. 1993. A method of linking multivariate community structure to environmental variables. Marine Ecology–Progress Series 92:205–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CLARKE, K. R. & WARWICK, R. M. 1994. Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Natural Environment Research Council, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth. 172 pp.Google Scholar
CORDES, L. D., HUGHES, F. M. R. & GETTY, M. 1997. Factors affecting the regeneration and distribution of riparian woodlands along a northern prairie river: the Red Deer River, Alberta, Canada. Journal of Biogeography 24:675–695.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DOUGLAS, M. M., TOWNSEND, S. A. & LAKE, P. S. 2003. Streams. Pp. 59–78 in Andersen, A. N., Cook, G. D. & Williams, R. J. (eds.). Fire in tropical savannas: the Kapalga fire experiment. Springer, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DWIRE, K. A. & KAUFFMAN, J. B. 2003. Fire and riparian ecosystems in landscapes of the western USA. Forest Ecology and Management 178;61–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FINLAYSON, C. M. 2005. Plant ecology of Australia's tropical floodplain wetlands: a review. Annals of Botany 96:541–555.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
FRANKLIN, D. C. & BOWMAN, D. M. J. S. 2004. A multi-scale biogeographical analysis of Bambusa arnhemica, a bamboo from monsoonal northern Australia. Journal of Biogeography 31:1335–1353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FRANKLIN, D. C., BROCKLEHURST, P. S., LYNCH, D. & BOWMAN, D. M. J. S. 2007. Niche differentiation and regeneration in the seasonally flooded Melaleuca forests of Northern Australia. Journal of Tropical Ecology 23:457–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FRIEDMAN, J. M., AUBLE, G. T., ANDREWS, E. D., KITTEL, G., MADOLE, R. F., GRIFFIN, E. R. & ALLRED, T. M. 2006. Transverse and longitudinal variation in woody riparian vegetation along a montane river. Western North American Naturalist 66:78–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HARRIS, R. R. 1988. Associations between stream valley geomorphology and riparian vegetation as a basis for landscape analysis in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, USA. Environmental Management 12:219–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HUGHES, F. M. R. 1988. The ecology of African floodplain forests in semi-arid and arid zones: a review. Journal of Biogeography 15:127–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HUPP, C. R. 2000. Hydrology, geomorphology and vegetation of Coastal Plain rivers in the south-eastern USA. Hydrological Processes 14:2991–3010.3.0.CO;2-H>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HUPP, C. R. & OSTERKAMP, W. R. 1996. Riparian vegetation and fluvial geomorphic processes. Geomorphology 14:277–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JUNK, W. J. 1999. The flood pulse concept of large rivers: learning from the tropics. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 115:261–280.Google Scholar
KELLMAN, M., TACKABERRY, R. & RIGG, L. 1998. Structure and function in two tropical gallery forest communities: implications for forest conservation in fragmented systems. Journal of Applied Ecology 35:195–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KERRIGAN, R. A. & ALBRECHT, D. E. 2007. Checklist of NT vascular plant species. Northern Territory Herbarium, Palmerston. 51 pp.Google Scholar
LAMONTAGNE, S., COOK, P. G., O'GRADY, A. & EAMUS, D. 2005. Groundwater use by vegetation in a tropical savanna riparian zone (Daly River, Australia). Journal of Hydrology 310:280–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MCDONALD, R. C., ISBELL, R. F., SPEIGHT, J. G., WALKER, J. & HOPKINS, M. S. 1998. Australian soil and land survey field handbook. (Second edition). CSIRO, Canberra. 190 pp.Google Scholar
MERTES, L. A. K., DANIEL, D. L., MELACK, J. M., NELSON, B., MARTINELLI, L. A. & FORSBERG, B. R. 1995. Spatial patterns of hydrology, geomorphology, and vegetation on the floodplain of the Amazon River in Brazil from a remote-sensing perspective. Geomorphology 13:215–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MUELLER-DOMBOIS, D. & ELLENBERG, H. 1974. Aims and methods of vegetation ecology. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 547 pp.Google Scholar
NAIMAN, R. J., DECAMPS, H. & MCCLAIN, M. E. 2005. Riparia: ecology, conservation and management of streamside communities. Elsevier Academic Press, Amsterdam. 430 pp.Google Scholar
PETTIT, N. E. & NAIMAN, R. J. 2007. Fire in the riparian zone: characteristics and ecological consequences. Ecosystems 10:673–687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PETTIT, N. E., FROEND, R. H. & DAVIES, P. M. 2001. Identifying the natural flow regime and the relationship with riparian vegetation for two contrasting Western Australian rivers. Regulated Rivers: Research and Management 17:201–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
POOLE, G. C. 2002. Fluvial landscape ecology: addressing uniqueness within the river discontinuum. Freshwater Biology 47:641–660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ROYAL AUSTRALIAN SURVEY CORPS. 1997. Topographic map sheet series R722. Australian Defence Force, Canberra.Google Scholar
RUSSELL-SMITH, J. 1991. Classification, species richness, and environmental relations of monsoon rainforest vegetation in the Northern Territory. Journal of Vegetation Science 2:259–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RUSSELL-SMITH, J., NEEDHAM, S. & BROCK, J. 1995. The physical environment. In Press, T., Lea, D., Webb, A. & Graham, A. (eds.). Kakadu: natural and cultural heritage and management. North Australia Research Unit, Australian National University, Darwin.Google Scholar
RUSSELL-SMITH, J., RYAN, P. G. & DURIEU, R. 1997. A LANDSAT MSS-derived fire history of Kakadu National Park, monsoonal northern Australia, 1980–94: seasonal extent, frequency and patchiness. Journal of Applied Ecology 34:748–766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RUSSELL-SMITH, J., WHITEHEAD, P. J., COOK, G. D. & HOARE, J. L. 2003. Response of Eucalyptus-dominated savanna to frequent fires: lessons from Munmarlary, 1973–1996. Ecological Monographs 73:349–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SALO, J., KALLIOLA, R., HAKKINEN, I., MAKINEN, Y., NIEMELA, P., PUHAKKA, M. & COLEY, P. D. 1986. River dynamics and the diversity of Amazon lowland forest. Nature 322:254–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAYNOR, M. J. & ERSKINE, W. D. 2006. Spatial and temporal variations in bank erosion on sand-bed streams in the seasonally wet tropics of northern Australia. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 31:1080–1099.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
STRAHLER, A. N. 1952. Hypsometric (area altitude) analysis of erosional topology. Geological Society of America Bulletin 63:1117–1142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TABACCHI, E., PLANTY-TABACCHI, A. M., SALINAS, M. J. & DECAMPS, H. 1996. Landscape structure and diversity in riparian plant communities: a longitudinal comparative study. Regulated Rivers: Research & Management 12:367–390.3.0.CO;2-X>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TABACCHI, E., CORRELL, D. L., HAUER, R., PINAY, G., PLANTY-TABACCHI, A. M. & WISSMAR, R. C. 1998. Development, maintenance and role of riparian vegetation in the river landscape. Freshwater Biology 40:497–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
THORP, J. H., THOMS, M. C. & DELONG, M. D. 2006. The riverine ecosystem synthesis: biocomplexity in river networks across space and time. River Research and Applications 22:123–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TOWNSEND, P. A. 1989. The patch dynamics concept of stream community ecology. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 8:36–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VAN COLLER, A. L., ROGERS, K. H. & HERITAGE, G. L. 1997. Linking riparian vegetation types and fluvial geomorphology along the Sabie River within the Kruger National Park, South Africa. African Journal of Ecology 35:194–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VANNOTE, R. L., MINSHALL, G. W., CUMMINS, K. W., SEDELL, J. R. & CUSHING, C. E. 1980. The river continuum concept. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 37:130–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WENDE, R. & NANSON, G. C. 1998. Anabranching rivers: ridge-form alluvial channels in tropical northern Australia. Geomorphology 22:205–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WILSON, B. A., BROCKLEHURST, P. S., CLARK, M. J. & DICKINSON, K. J. M. 1991. Vegetation survey of the Northern Territory. Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory, Darwin. 222 pp.Google Scholar
WOODROFFE, C. D., CHAPPELL, J., THOM, B. G. & WALLENSKY, E. 1989. Depositional model of a macrotidal estuary and floodplain, South Alligator River, Northern Australia. Sedimentology 36:737–756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar