Introduction

In 2010 all the iconic landscapes in Australia, those associated with rivers, floodplains and their wetlands perhaps best capture both the highly dynamic nature and the enormous regional diversity of the continent. From the lush gallery rainforests of the wet tropics to the seasonally flooded savannas of the monsoonal north, the vast ephemeral herbfields of the desert channel country to the majestic river red gum forests along the Murray River and the extensive mangrove swamps of virtually all but the southernmost of mainland estuaries, vegetation is integral to the character of Australia's riverine ecosystems.