Port of Abbot Point Long-Term Seagrass Monitoring Program 2019

Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
van de Wetering, C.;York, P.H.;Reason, C.L.;Wilkinson, J.;Rasheed, M.A.
Abstract

In 2019 seagrass in the annually monitored meadows at Abbot Point were in an overall satisfactory condition, similar to 2018 and remain in a recovery phase Inshore seagrass meadows were in a satisfactory condition and offshore seagrass was in a good condition. For offshore seagrass, this was an improvement from satisfactory the previous year and poor in 2017 following TC Debbie. The 2019 survey also examined all seagrasses within the broader port limits (conducted every 3 years): Seagrass covered a slightly lower area compared to previous surveys, and seagrass biomass across the region was lower than the previous survey in 2016, but greater than 2008 and 2013. Environmental conditions were favourable for seagrass growth from March through to the end of the year, with only a short period of high rainfall at the beginning of the year. Successive years of climate impacts on Abbot Point seagrass meadows are likely to have reduced the resilience of seagrass in the area to future natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Continued recovery will be contingent on future weather being favourable for seagrass growth.

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20/12

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54

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TropWATER, James Cook University

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Cairns, QLD, Australia

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