Seagrass habitat of Cairns Harbour and Trinity Inlet: Annual Monitoring Report and Cairns Shipping Development Project Monitoring Report 2021

Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Reason, Carissa;York, Paul;Rasheed, Michael
Abstract

• Seagrass meadows in Cairns Harbour and Trinity Inlet are monitored annually to assess their condition and as an indicator of marine environmental health in the Port of Cairns. • The three large meadows in Cairns Harbour were in a good condition and remained stable in 2021. • Due to reductions in area and or biomass the three smaller Estuarine Trinity Inlet monitoring meadows were collectively in a poor condition. o Two of these small meadows consist of ephemeral species and are highly variable in density and distribution each year. o The third meadow of larger growing species has improved in condition over the last two years following its complete loss between 2010 and 2015. • The whole of port assessment in 2021 mapped 1,488 ha of seagrass, the fourth year in a row recording some of largest areas of seagrass in the Cairns region, but a slight reduction compared to the past 3 years. • Two years after completion of the Cairns Shipping Development Project (CSDP) there were no signs of impacts on the extensive seagrass monitoring meadows adjacent to the harbour works. • The meadows closest to the dredge operation remained in a good condition and both area and biomass have been stable since the CSDP works were completed.

Journal

N/A

Publication Name

N/A

Volume

22/03

ISBN/ISSN

N/A

Edition

N/A

Issue

N/A

Pages Count

62

Location

N/A

Publisher

TropWATER

Publisher Url

N/A

Publisher Location

Cairns, QLD, Australia

Publish Date

N/A

Url

N/A

Date

N/A

EISSN

N/A

DOI

N/A