TY  - JOUR
A1  - Erskine, Fiona
A1  - Chalmers, Anita
A1  - Erskine, Wayne
T1  - Survival of Casuarina cunninghamiana on a recovering sand-bed stream in the Wollombi Valley of coastal New South Wales
T2  - Cunninghamia : a journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia
N2  - The successful management and restoration of riparian corridors in Australia is currently hindered by our poor understanding of the links between hydrology, fluvial geomorphology and plant population dynamics. The aim of the current study was to determine the survival rates of Casuarina cunninghamiana subsp. cunninghamiana Miq. (family Casuarinaceae) on a sand-bed stream in the Wollombi Valley, a tributary of the Hunter River system, in coastal New South Wales (lat 33°02’S; long 151°10’E). A population planted on the banks of Dairy Arm in 1987, as part of river training works, was used to determine the long-term (24-year) survival rate. A bankfull flood in June 2011 provided an opportunity to examine the survival response of seedlings regenerating naturally within the channel. We found that 24% of the seedlings planted on the banks in 1987 had survived to adulthood. The bankfull flood significantly decreased (d.f. = 14; W= - 30; p = 0.0024) median seedling density within the channel from 12 to 2 individuals per 100 m2. Seedling survival varied with height, with seedlings > 15 cm more likely to survive the bankfull flood. The percentage of seedlings partially buried by sediment was significantly higher (d.f. = 14; W = 13; p = 0.016) after flood compared to before flood. Seedling density was positively correlated with the amount of bare ground prior to the flood (r = 0.61; p = 0.02), but this relationship was no longer significant after flood (r = 0.18; p = 0.53). 37% of the seedlings surveyed showed evidence of grazing. Our results confirm that hydrogeomorphic processes associated with a bankfull flood affect the survival of Casuarina cunninghamiana seedlings. The management implications of our findings are discussed in terms of riparian revegetation techniques and the geomorphic recovery of over-widened sand-bed streams.
KW  - River Sheoak
KW  - seedling survivorship
KW  - flood disturbance
KW  - river training works
KW  - riparian vegetation
KW  - fluvial geomorphology
Y1  - 2013
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/32520
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-325201
SN  - 2200-405X
SN  - 0727-9620
VL  - 13
IS  - 1
SP  - 295
EP  - 304
ER  -