Presenter - Australasian Coasts & Ports Conference

Skye McKenna (Senior Research Officer)
Title

Presenter - Australasian Coasts & Ports Conference

Other - Specify

N/A

Role

SPEAKER

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N/A

Activity Type

Contribution to conference, workshop, seminar or course

Date

N/A

Description

In recent years wide spread loss of deep water and shallow water seagrass habitat in Queensland waters and ports caused by weather and climate events have emphasised the need to understand the processes and timing of seagrass recovery and resilience. Tropical cyclones and plumes associated with flooding have the potential to negatively impact seagrass habitats physically and/or physiologically; the mechanisms for climate events to cause seagrass loss are well documented, but the capacity and mechanisms for recovery are poorly understood. As an example, in the summer of 2010/2011 Queensland experienced severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi and some of the worst floods on record. Many seagrass communities on the east coast of Queensland were already in decline prior to the floods due to strong La Niña conditions for several years meaning that these communities were likely to be less resilient to further impacts and have a reduced capacity for recovery. Significant losses of coastal and deep water seagrasses along the Queensland coast and in ports were observed after the floods and TC Yasi. Results of a collaborative state wide long-term seagrass monitoring program with North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation and Ports North show contrasting recovery of seagrass habitat between locations along the coast, and within a location between deep water and shallow water seagrass habitats. Experimental investigations of the potential for seagrass recovery and resilience indicate that the availability of a sediment seed bank, and whether a seagrass species has a strong reliance on vegetative growth for recovery, plays a major role in the recovery and resilience of Queensland seagrass habitats.