Seagrasses in the Great Sandy Strait

Presented by: Gordon Cottle

Great Sandy Strait Seagrass Watch & Monitoring Program

Great Sandy Strait

Pho

to c

ourt

esy

EPA

Background 1992 cyclone Severe flooding in

Hervey Bay area Seagrass loss of approx

1000 sq kms Dugong deaths upwards

of 1000

Seagrass-Watch 1996/7 seagrass beds not recovered –

Jerry Comans 1998 Seagrass Watch established –

community based seagrass monitoring program

From 2 to 20 regions 21 countries globally Over 200 regions

GSSSW&MP

18 Sites

10 Sites accessible by boat only

Seagrasses Unique flowering plants Can live entirely submerged Pollinate under water 15 species found in Qld Absorb nutrients, stabilise

sediment Habitat for crustacea, fish,

turtles, dugong (dugong feeding trail seen in photo)

Seagrasses in GSS 5,554 hectares of

seagrass meadows Grow on intertidal sand

and mud flats 4 species in GSS

Pictures: www.reef.crc.org.au

Site Layout

Quadrat code = site + transect + quadrat

Eg PN1225 = Poona site 1, transect 2, 25m quadrat

Data Sheet

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w.s

eagr

assw

atch

..org

GSSSW&MP

GSSSW&MP

GSSSW&MP

Seagrass-Watch HQ Receive and analyse all

data Provide a site overview

and report card Sites given a ‘health’

rating Data used for planning

decisions

GSSSW&MP

POONA

Dugong dugon