This monitoring program provides information on progress at Patangga. There are four pages of information here -
Other pages may be added as more monitoring topics are undertaken. A description of the monitoring program is contained in the Management Plan for Mangrove Cove.
Photopoints of the saltmarsh retreat zone (the old boat ramp)
This photopoint is taken from the northernmost walking path through the reserve plantings. A small white peg has been inserted into the garden bed adjacent to the path to mark where to stand to take the photographs. Ideally a panorama setting can be used. This photograph was taken in March 2008, soon after planting, and is the baseline photograph for this site.
The same site, photographed in December 2008:
And photographed again in December 2010:
The foreground Myporum insulare have grown to the point that the growth of the saltmarsh is hidden from view, and so a new photopoint has been established (December 2010) at the SE corner of the viewing platform north of Mangrove Cove, looking south:
New photopoint December 2010
The new photopoint photographed again, in December 2011. Notice that the Melaleuca halmaturorum are starting to gain some size, and that mangroves (Avicennia marina) are establishing themselves close to the foot of the retreat zone. As they colonise across the base of the old boat ramp they will stabilise the sediment and the saltmarsh may be able to move further down the slope.
January 2013 the Myoporum in the right background is now obscuring the front of the buildings in the background. The saltmarsh plantings are looking in poor condition after a harsh series of heatwaves, but will recover. The Melaleucas adjacent to the Myoporums and across the site have grown and in a few years may obscure the view of the colonising mangroves.
Monitoring the plantings in the saltmarsh retreat zone
A transect has been established from the rock embankment down the old capped boat ramp. The rock used as the zero point of the transect is a large rock with red striations and has a small amount of white paint placed on its lower right face. (See photo below, left). A measuring tape was laid out down the ramp, in line with the 3rd Log Pool pole to the right of the last of the "Swimmers" sculptures (see photo below right).
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Inital photographs of the transect (taken March 2008):
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The transect vegetation cover data is presented in the table below:
| March 2008 | December 2008 | December 2010 | December 2011 | January 2013 | December 201X |
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0m: Rock then bare ground for a distance of 5.4m, between two patches of plantings - Ficinia nodosa to the east and Atriplex paludosa about a metre to the west of the transect line |
0m: Sparse Disphyma crassifolium to 6.5m |
0m: Bare sand |
0m: Atriplex paludosa (W) and Ficinia nodosa (E) to 2.5m | 0m: Atriplex paludosa (W) and Ficinia nodosa (E) to 3.3m | |
0.5m: Atriplex paludosa (W), bare sand (E) to 1m |
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1m: Ficinia nodosa (E), Atriplex paludosa (W) to 2.5m |
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2.5m: Disphyma crassifolium to 5m |
2.5m: Disphyma crassifolium with Gahnia filum (to E of transect) to 6m | ||||
| 3.3m: Gahnia filum (W of transect), Disphyma crassifolium, Atriplex paludosa, Gahnia with occasional Suaeda (E) to 7.5m | |||||
5.4m: Patch of Carpobrotus rossii to 7.2m |
5m: Gahnia filum (E), sparse Ficinia nodosa (W) to 6m |
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6.5m: Atriplex paludosa to 12.4m |
6m: Mid dense Atriplex paludosa with isolated Ficinia nodosa plants to 11m |
6m: Ficinia nodosa and Atriplex paludosa to 9.5m | |||
| 7.2m: Atriplex paludosa to 10.1m | 7.5m: Ficinia nodosa (E) sparse Ficinia nodosa and areas of bare soil (W) to 9.5m | ||||
| 9.5m: Atriplex paludosa (W) with Melaleuca halmaturorum (E) to 14m | 9.5m: Dying Atriplex paludosa (W) with Melaleuca halmaturorum (E) to 14m | ||||
10.1m: Bare to 11.1 m |
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11.1m: Atriplex paludosa to 13.2m |
11m: Melaleuca halmaturorum (E), mid dense Atriplex paludosa (W) to 14m |
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12.4m: Passes between a patch of Melaleuca halmaturorum (E) and Gahnia filum (W) untl 13.6m |
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13.2m: Skirts the edge of a sparse patch of Gahnia filum, to 16m |
13.6m: Carpobrotus rossii with scattered Suaeda australis to 17.3m |
14m: Sparse mixture of Suaeda australis, Tecticornia pergranulata & Carpobrotus rossii (E) with mid dense Gahnia filum (W) to 17m |
14m: Gahnia filum to 15m |
14m: Gahnia filum (W), sparse Tecticornia pergranulata (E) to 16m |
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16m: Bare earth until 19.4m |
15m: Gahnia filum, Tecticornia pergranulata and Suaeda australis to 17m |
16m: Melaleuca halmaturorum (W), Sparse Tecticornia pergranulata (E) to 21m |
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17.3m: Sparse Ficinia nodosa and scattered Suaeda australis with juvenile self-seeded Tecticornia sp. (not yet flowering) to 21m |
17m: Sparse Suaeda australis & Tecticornia pergranulata to 20m |
17m: Sparse Suaeda australis & Tecticornia pergranulata to 19.5m |
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19.4m: Mesembryanthemum crystallinum and Melaleuca halmaturorum until 20m |
19.5m: Melaleuca halmaturorum (W), Sparse Tecticornia pergranulata (E) to 21.5m |
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20m: Bare earth until 21.4m |
20m: Melaleuca halmaturorum (W), Sparse Suaeda australis & Tecticornia pergranulata (E) to 22.5m |
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21.4m: Cyperus gymnocaulos until 23m |
21m: An area of self-seeded Tecticornia sp. (not yet flowering) growing betwee a patch of M. halmaturorum (E) and Cyperus gymnocaulos (W) to 23m |
21.5m: Dense Cyperus gymnocaulos (W), mid dense Tecticornia pergranulata (E) to 24m |
21m: Cyperus gymnocaulos (W), sparse Tecticornia pergranulata (E) to 23.5m |
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22.5m: Dense Cyperus gymnocaulos (W), mid dense Tecticornia pergranulata (E) to 24.5m |
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23m: The spring tide line, with a ridge of drift and then bare earth until 23.7m2 |
23m: Bare with occasional self-seeded Tecticornia sp. (not yet flowering) and Suaeda australis, until 26.3m |
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23.7m: The edge of a Gahnia filum patch until 24.4m |
23.5m: Gahnia filum (W), sparse Tecticornia pergranulata (E) to 25m |
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24.4m: Bare earth until 26.5m |
24.5m: Gahnia filum (W), sparse Tecticornia pergranulata (E) to 25.5m |
24m: Gahnia filum, Tecticornia pergranulata, Suaeda australis to 25.5m | |||
25.5m: Mid dense Tecticornia pergranulata to 28.5m |
25.5m: Suaeda australis and patches of Cyperus gymnocaulos to 29m | 25m: Sparse Tecticornia pergranulata and Suaeda australis to 30m then bare to toe of slope |
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26.5m: Cyperus gymnocaulos until 27.7m |
26.1m: Bare with widely spaced Cyperus gymnocaulos to 26.3 |
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26.3m: Strandline, then widely spaced Cyperus gymnocaulos to 28.5m |
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27.7m: Bare to the lower end of the boat ramp. A daily tide line at 29.4m |
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28.5m: Open Cyperus gymnocaulos & Suaeda australis mix to 30m |
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30m: Isolated Tecticornia pergranulata plants over another meter or so, then bare for just more than 20m to the toe of the slope, where small Avicennia marina seedlings have sprouted. |
29m: Sparse Tecticornia pergranulata with isolated Suaeda australis to 30.5m then bare to toe of slope |
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Mangrove expansion photopoints
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