Biodiversity
Page 268
Wetlands & Coastal Areas
Barker Inlet and St Kilda Wetlands
The Barker Inlet and St Kilda coastal and marine wetlands are identified and
listed by the Commonwealth Government as Wetlands of National Importance
as they support rich ecological diversity and attract shorebirds and water birds.
The St Kilda wetlands are located in the City of Salisbury, acting as an
important extension of the Barker Inlet habitat, and exhibiting similar biological
features. These wetlands support the largest area of mangrove forests in the
Gulf St Vincent. Figure 68 shows the location of salt marsh and mangrove cover
of the Barker Inlet and St Kilda environments.
Figure 68: Barker Inlet and St Kilda Wetlands
(Source: Department for Environment and Natural Resources 2011)
Flora
The Barker Inlet Wetlands forms an extensive tidal floodplain and is
characterised by low-lying dunes and chenier ridges, supratidal samphire flats,
intertidal mangrove woodlands (dominated by
Avicennia marina
), intertidal mud
and sand flats, tidal channels and subtidal seagrass meadows (dominated by
Zostera muelleri
and Garweed,
Heterozostera tasmanica
and tapeweed,
Posidonia
spp.) (PAE State of the Environment, 2007).
Threatened species in the area include the saltmarsh plants (
Halosarcia
flabelliformis, Cetrolepis cephaloformis
).
