Port of Townsville annual monitoring and baseline survey: October 2013
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
Key Findings: 1. In 2013 seagrasses in Townsville continued to recover from the climate related losses that occurred leading up to 2011. While substantial recovery had occurred seagrass condition was still below the levels observed during the first three years of monitoring. 2. Changes to seagrasses that have been observed during the monitoring program to date have been strongly linked to impacts from climate events such as flood plume impacts rather than port activities. 3. The increase in coastal seagrass meadow biomass and area included a return of the larger "foundation" species such as Halodule, Zostera and Cymodocea; although some meadows were still dominated by colonising species such as Halophila. 4. Townsville remains one of the few coastal areas in the Wet and Dry Tropics regions where seagrasses have shown substantial recovery in 2013. 5. Evidence of dugong feeding was observed in many meadows throughout the port and vicinity. 6. The addition of temperature and light (PAR) monitoring to the seagrass program would greatly enhance the ability to determine the causes of seagrass change and provide information to determine critical thresholds of light for management of port activities.
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14/02
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55
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TropWATER, James Cook University
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Cairns, QLD, Australia
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