Coastal wattle vs

Acacia cyclops compared with Nitzschia angularis

Key Differences

• Coastal wattle is Least Concern while is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Coastal wattle
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Chromista (Chromista)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Ochrophyta (Ochrophyta)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Bacillariophyceae (Bacillariophyceae)
Order	Fabales (Legumes & Allies)	Bacillariales (Bacillariales)
Family	Fabaceae	Bacillariaceae
Genus	Acacia	Nitzschia
Species	Acacia cyclops	Nitzschia angularis

Conservation Status

Coastal wattle

LC — Least Concern

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Coastal wattle
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Coastal wattle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 8 distinct biome types spanning the Afrotropic and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (13 countries), Asia (Israel), Europe (4 countries), and North America (United States).

Habitat

Native to Asia and Europe and South America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Brazil, Norway, Sweden, and Taiwan.

Coastal wattle

Coastal wattle (Acacia cyclops) is a dense, fast-growing shrub in the family Fabaceae, native to the southwestern and southern coastal regions of Western Australia, from Shark Bay south to the Nullarbor Plain. It grows on coastal dunes, sandy scrubland, and limestone substrates near the sea, where it tolerates salt spray, wind, and summer drought. Coastal wattle produces distinctive circular seeds with bright red arillate coatings, making them highly attractive to birds. Although valued in its native range for coastal stabilisation and revegetation, the species has become highly invasive in southern Africa, particularly South Africa, where it was introduced for dune stabilisation in the 19th century and has since spread extensively across the Cape Floristic Region, displacing native fynbos vegetation. It is listed among the 100 worst invasive species globally by the IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group. In Australia, it is assessed as Least Concern. Management of invasive populations in South Africa involves mechanical removal and biological control efforts aimed at protecting the critically threatened fynbos biome.

Nitzschia angularis is an elongated, pennate freshwater diatom with angular poles and a distinctive raphe positioned along the keel of the frustule. It inhabits eutrophic to mesotrophic freshwater environments including rivers, ponds, and nutrient-enriched lakes. This photosynthetic diatom is associated with moderately enriched freshwater conditions.