Three decades of research by Dr Norm Duke from UQ’s Centre for Marine Studies has resulted in an authoritative guide to one of Australia’s most prodigious coastal plants – the mangrove.

“I have been working on the project for more than 30 years and during this time I have renamed and re-described a number of mangrove species and discovered new ones”

Dr Duke’s 200-page hardback book, Australia’s Mangroves – the authoritative guide to Australia’s mangrove plants, details the 41 mangrove plant species found in Australian coastal waters.
Dr Duke published the book with support from Professor Mick McManus, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Biological and Chemical Sciences, and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Greenfield, AO.
James Cook University and Damien Burrows also provided supplemental funding for the design.
The book is a practical and portable field guide with more than 500 colour photographs supplemented with beautifully illustrated keys including the unique ‘wheel’, a water-proof field key, plus detailed botanical descriptions, distribution maps, and flowering/fruiting charts.
Mangroves are a common coastal habitat known to most Australian’s since they occur along more than 18 percent of the coastline.
Dr Duke said he hoped the book would help demystify the often-misunderstood habitat, showing the diversity and special attributes of plants and animals that live there, plus the many benefits and services they provide.
He said the book had been written for a broad audience interested in marine and coastal habitats, including resource managers and environmental planners, researchers, foresters, students of tertiary and secondary school science courses, conservation groups and the general public.
“I have been working on the project for more than 30 years and during this time I have renamed and re-described a number of mangrove species and discovered new ones,” Dr Duke said.
He said that while the research had taken many years, the actual production process had been relatively brief, with the book being developed in conjunction with graphic designer Diana Kleine over the past 18 months.
Australia’s Mangroves was written and prepared with the help of key co-contributors, specifically for particular sections on Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

Wildlife Australia Summer 2006 Australia's Mangroves: the authoritative guide to Australia's mangrove plants reviewed by Jennifer Singfield

This books works on three levels: as a text book, a field guide and on the coffee table. From the smooth cover and the wonderful glossy pages, Australia's Mangroves is a lovely book just to hold and look at. No one can persist picking it up and flicking through the pages, all of which feature good quality photos. Fran Davies' prints, especially one of three spectacled flying foxes roosting in a mangrove, add to the book's appeal.

Mangrove forest support biodiversity as fish, crab and prawn nurseries; they also feed and shelter bats, butterflies, gastropods, rusty monitors and the occasional crocodile. As a 'mangrove novice' I imagined our local grey mangrove (now I know it is Avicennia marina) was typical. The first surprising thing I learned is that mangroves are not all trees. They can be trees, shrubs, palms or ground ferns. Duke's love of Australia's mangroves is apparant on each information-filled page.

The book is laid out in three sections, covering mangrove biology, ecology, intertidal adaptations, habitat value and human influences from indigenous management to the current threats, such as clearing and pollution (in part one). Part Two summarises the mangroves of the mainland states and Northern Territory (Tasmania does not have mangroves). Part Three is a species description and identification key, including colour photographs of whole plants, flowers, leaves, trunks and pneumatophores. A distribution graph sits next to a flowering and fruiting graph for each species; at a glance you can see if it occurs at your location and when it is in flower or fruit. Margin icons on the right side of the page are useful in differentiating the species. The high-quality binding, covers and pages can handle some moisture, and the plastic ID wheel is totally waterproof.

I test-drove the book as a field guide with a friend and fellow mangrove novice on Brisbane's Nudgee Beach mangrove boardwalk. We started with A. marina, since I knew it, and the key worked. Using the wheel and referring to the glossary for terms such as 'raceme' and 'pubescent'. we managed to key out Rhizophora stylosa and Ceriops australis.

The book worked very well, especially considering most of the mangroves were not flowering or fruiting. I will be taking this book with me whenever I travel around Australia in future.

Jennifer Singfield has been a Seagrass Watcher for the past three years and is training to become one of Norm's Mangrove Watch volunteers.