School of Geography - Theses
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ItemThe physiography of Anderson's Inlet, Victoria, with special reference to early stages in the establishment of Spartina( 1971)In recent years, extensive intertidal flats towards the head of Anderson's Inlet, Victoria, have been colonised by Scartina townsendii (sensu lato) an erect, perennial and exotic grass. S. townsendii (s.l.) was first recorded in 1870 in Southampton Water, England, where it is presumed to have evolved by hybridisation between two Scartina species, the local S. maritima and the American S. alternlflora. The new plant spread quickly to other estuaries along the south coast of England, and in 1899 appeared in Poole Harbour, where neither of its parent species had been present. The spread of S. townsendii (s.l.) is accompanied by rapid sediment accretion, and as a result there has been modification of the physiography and ecology of estuaries in which it is found. Such modification occurred in Poole Harbour, which has recently become the centre of much scientific interest. The attention of the author was first drawn to the presence of Scartina in Anderson's Inlet by Dr. B. C. P. Bird, a participant in research at Poole Harbour, who noted the apparent physiographic similarities of the two estuarine systems, and pointed out that recent attempts to establish the features of Scartina colonisation in Poole Harbour have been hampered by an absence of detailed information on the early stages of Scartina spread. Because of the youth of its Scartina marsh, there is at Anderson's Inlet an opportunity to study the initial phases of Spartina invasion and establishment, and the resulting effects on physiography and sedimentation, in an estuarine system which is likely to be changed profoundly by SpartIna introduction. For this purpose, the present research was undertaken.