Mamu - the original inhabitants of the Innisfail region. There were five tribes in the Mamu nation, following migratory lifestyles in the rainforest, and moving along the rivers in string-bark canoes. When European cedar cutters and Chinese gold seekers arrived later in the 1870s and early 1880s, the Mamu fought them and inflicted serious casualties. The Native Police were sent in. Superior firepower broke up the indigenous communities and dispersed or integrated the remaining original landowners.

man and boy - from childhood.

Man and the Biosphere - (MAB) a program launched by UNESCO in 1971 to catalyse a greater understanding and provision of knowledge and skills to support sustainable relationships between people and their environment. Biosphere reserves act as a keystone of MAB by providing a global network of sites for co-operative research toward this end. They also aim to demonstrate the 'sustainable use' goals of the World Conservation Strategy. As at the end of November 2002, the World Network of Biosphere Reserves included 495 sites in 95 countries.

man fern - Dicksonia antarctica, probably the best known of all the treeferns. In the wild it can be found growing throughout the forests of eastern Australia, Tasmania, and some sub-Antarctic islands where the temperature seldom, if ever, rises above 65°F. In some parts of Australia it grows almost into the alpine zone, where it is often set back by severe frosts, and usually fails to put on a trunk so that it can benifit from the protection of winter snow cover. In the western end of its range where the climate is drier, a more stout-trunked form exists. This species is probably the largest of the Dicksonias, occasionally reaching the incredible height of around 50' (though 20' is more usual), with a trunk that can be a couple feet in diameter or more if given enough moisture, and a life span of up to 400 years. The fronds most often grow to about 8' - 10' in length, but under exceptionally good conditions, fronds as long as 14' are not out of the question. The crown can contain a great many fronds; up to 60 or 70 have been recorded on one plant.! The uncurling croziers and stipes are covered with soft, reddish-brown hairs. Growth is moderate, but trunk development is relatively slow - about 1" per year is all that can be expected in cool areas, or even a bit less. Dicksonia antarctica, like most temperate treefern species, seems to vary in its hardiness according to the provenance from which it originated. The hardiest provenances, which are most likely to come from Victoria and New South Wales, might be able to withstand temperatures down to near 16°F before they are severely damaged. Despite its origin in rather cool mountain forests, Dicksonia antarctica is also one of the more heat-tolerant treeferns. It grows as an understory on the forest floor where few other plants will grow. Also known as soft treefern, Tasmanian treefern.

man in white - the umpire.

man is not a camel - humorous justification for the desire to have a drink.

man of straw - 1. effigy; imaginary person set up as an opponent, surety etc. 2. one who is insignificant, a nonentity; morally frail.

man on man - (Australian Rules football) close, checking defence.

man on the land - pertaining to farmers, graziers, primary producers.

man outside Hoyts - so flamboyant in dress and manner as to be jokingly referred to as an authority on various subjects (the "man outside Hoyts" was the crier who stood outside Hoyts Theatre in Melbourne during the 1930s).

manchester - 1. household linen. 2. the department of a shop in which this is sold.

Mandura - situated 74km south of Perth on an estuary. The waterways of the Mandura Estuary are popular for their prawning, crabbing and good fishing areas. Dolphins are often seen in the estuary.

maned duck - Chenonetta jubata, 45cm - 50 cm long, with a goose-like short, dark bill, olive-brown legs and brown iris. The upper body has grey feathers with dark quills and the breast is speckled grey-brown. On the wings there is a green stripe between two white stripes. The head and neck are brown and the male has a short, dark mane on the nape. Females and juveniles have mottled grey feathers over the lower body, a paler head and white stripes just above and below the eyes. The maned duck feeds almost entirely on vegetation. It forages, largely by night, for seeds, fresh green shoots and various grasses, spending much of the day camped quietly by water. The birds commonly associate in small flocks, occurring around watercourses and lakes in eastern and south-western Australia. The range of the maned duck has expanded since European settlement, as its habitat has increased through land clearing. Also known as the Australian wood duck, maned goose.

mangal - (see: St Andrews Cross spider).

Mangaridji - alternate spelling of Gunwinggu.

Manggalili - Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory.

mangrove and saltmarsh swamps - estuarine areas subject to tidal flooding which support mangrove and saltmarsh vegetation. Also included here are non-tidal basins which occur on estuarine sediments adjacent to mangrove and saltmarsh areas, as well as any mudflats and small creeks which occur within or adjacent to the community. Mangrove and saltmarsh communities are found along tidal shorelines which are exposed to seawater, and often extend up coastal rivers as far as the tidal limit, with saltmarsh communities occurring on the landward side of mangroves. Mangrove and saltmarsh communities act as a buffer by reducing silt and nutrient loads in runoff from surrounding areas. Many mangrove and saltmarsh wetlands are subject to controls on development activities.

mangrove gerygone - Gerygone levigaster, a small brown-backed warbler with a white breast, red eye, white eyebrow, and white tip in tail. Immature has pale yellow throat and no white eyebrow. Has a sweet warble, with a distinct "falling down" sound. Call is sustained during breeding season when the strongly territorial male advertises it's territory. Eats small insects. Its nest is a suspended, pear-shaped dome with a short side-entrance hood and a 10cm suspended tail, and made of grass, bark-fibre, spiderweb, and decorated with spider egg-sacs. Nest is constructed in a leafy branch of mangroves to 5m high. Breeds September to April, laying two to three eggs and thought to mate for life. Male entertains mate during nest building by singing and displaying. Forages in mangroves singularly or in pairs, flutters above the mangroves and dives into the foliage.

mangrove ribbon worm - simple organisms with elongated bodies which break easily to elude predators. Found mainly in mud lobster mounds and under the bark of rotten wood or tree trunks. It has a long eversible proboscis which it uses to snare prey. To the Aborigines, they were succulent worms called milka.

mangrove scrub - if cutting in mangrove forests is not properly managed, the typical results are reduction in tree size and species diversity. Primary forest, dominated by large trees of 3-4 species of Rhizophora, Brugeria, Kandelia and Avicennia can be reduced to a secondary forest of trees less than 5m high, or even to mangrove scrub of 1 or 2 species, and only 1m - 2m high.

mangrove snails - Mangrove Australwink or Bembecium melanostomum, whelk-like mollusc. External grey-brown and interior purple-brown in colour. Although these snails move seawards for spawning, most of their lives are spent on the trunks, branches and leaves of mangrove trees. During the night they move down to browse on algae on the lower mangrove trunks and the mud below. During the day, they remain attached to one spot on a mangrove leaf or branch, sealing the opening of the shell to prevent dehydration in the dry atmosphere.

mangrove swamp - a crucial factor in the regulation of nutrient flow from land to sea. The surface and underground water circulation in mangroves is vital to the sedimentation processes, chemistry and biology of mangrove and coastal waters. The topography and the vegetation generate a tidal asymmetry of the currents. As a result, mangrove creeks are naturally self-scouring even without freshwater runoff. The water circulation over the mud shoals fringing the mangroves also encourages the recruitment of prawn larvae spawned offshore. These swamps were often seen by Europeans as an impediment to development, unpleasant and dangerous places full of biting insects and disease. For the Aboriginal people , however, the mangroves are abundant gardens of food and resources that sustain and enrich their lives, where every plant and animal is known. The mud is home to a multitude of delicious shellfish, from minute bivalves and oyster beds to large, delectable mud crabs. The trees also bear fruit. Land reclamation of mangrove swamps for human development reduces the tidal asymmetry and the natural self-scouring effect, resulting in siltation of mangrove channels. The mangroves appear vital to the maintenance of prawn fisheries. Mangroves are very efficient in reducing wave energy and can be used along muddy shores to protect the coast from erosion. The estuaries and tidal wetlands of Cape York Peninsula contain some of the most well-developed mangrove habitats in Australia.

Manilla - a service centre to a rich wheat-growing, wool, farming and livestock district, situated at the junction of the Namoi and Manilla rivers. Originally known as The Junction, the town gained a name at the request of its first postmaster. There was little real growth before the passing of the Robertson Land Act brought closer settlement of the district. This was quickly followed by the construction of a bridge over the Namoi River, the coming of the railway, and the development of the wool and wheat industries. Manilla is located north of Tamworth on Fossickers Way, New South Wales.

Manilla River - Alan Cunningham crossed the Manilla River near Barraba in 1827 on his way to discovering the Darling Downs. He originally called it Buddles River and it was here that he had the first opportunity of meeting with Aboriginal people since leaving the settled part of the Colony of New South Wales.

Maningrida - a town on the eastern bank of the Liverpool River estuary in Arnhem Land, which began in 1949 as a trading post established by the Northern Territory administration's welfare branch. At the time, 60 people from the area who had moved to Darwin were repatriated. The name of the settlement, at an old Macassan well, means 'the watering place'. After the Maningrida town council assumed control (from government welfare authorities), non-Aborigines who wished to visit the area required permits, which the council was reluctant to issue. As an outstation movement gained strength in the 1970s, the town council established an outstation resource centre. This operated mobile stores, provided workshop and communications facilities, offered a wholesale outlet for art and craft production, and helped support outstation schools. By the mid-1980s the town itself was well supplied with urban amenities, including an administrative centre, supermarket school with 200 students enrolled, health centre, church, 116 multi-room houses and standard utilities like reticulated electricity, water and sewerage. As the large outstation population indicates, however, many people with Maningrida links prefer life in their bush settlements.

Manja Shelter - with a total of ninety hands outlined in red against the shelter's creamy walls, Manja has more hand stencils than any other rock art site in Victoria. Hand impressions are a common motif in rock art throughout the world. Signifying the artist's presence, they are a way of saying " we are here, we are are part of this place." A 1.3km walking trail leads you through a series of distinct vegetation bands to Manja Shelter at the base of a prominent sandstone outcrop, just below the ridgeline near Deep Creek in the Victoria Range. Located in the Grampians National Park.

manna gum - Eucalyptus viminalis, a common tree that grows to 50m high. Aboriginal people collected and ate the sweet, white sap that oozes through tiny holes bored by insects on the twigs (manna). The wood was fashioned into shields, drinking vessels were formed from burls on trunks, and leaves were smoked over fire to reduce fevers. Manna gum is common in well-watered areas of south-eastern South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and eastern NSW. Bark is mainly smooth with some trees having a black butt or rough bark over most of the trunk. Smooth bark is often powdery and can vary from light cream through pale brown to light grey. Very fast growing, the timber is used for joinery, scantling, flooring and pulp. Manna gum woodlands are presently under serious pressure from koala over-browsing, in a number of parks. At these parks, high levels of defoliation have led to the death of some manna gums, and there is a high risk that total defoliation of the koalas’ food trees will occur. This would lead to the slow, mass starvation of the koala population, as has happened previously at numerous sites, including French Island, Stony Point, Snake Island and, most recently, Framlingham State Forest.

manna gum heathland - occurs in the west end of The Grange, where the soil is very sandy. There are now large areas of high-quality manna gum in the heathland, having regenerated after a bushfire in 1991. A variety of species have emerged that had not been recorded in the The Grange prior to fire, but must have been present at some time in the past. Many Australian plants and seeds require fire to germinate, such as the leafless globe pea, now found in the reserve. This community supports a huge diversity of plants. The Gippsland manna gum has white flowers in the autumn months, and is only found in Victoria. The other trees here include the swamp gum and tree everla