Collation of spatial seagrass data (meadow extent polygons, species presence/absence points) from 1984 - 2018 for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) (NESP TWQ Project 3.2.1 and 5.4, TropWATER, James Cook University)

Alex Carter; Skye McKenna; Michael Rasheed; Roland Pitcher; Len McKenzie; Rob Coles

doi:10.15468/eplomk

Collation of spatial seagrass data (meadow extent polygons, species presence/absence points) from 1984 - 2018 for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) (NESP TWQ Project 3.2.1 and 5.4, TropWATER, James Cook University)

Citation

Carter A, McKenna S, Rasheed M, Pitcher R, McKenzie L, Coles R (2023): Collation of spatial seagrass data (meadow extent polygons, species presence/absence points) from 1984 - 2018 for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) (NESP TWQ Project 3.2.1 and 5.4, TropWATER, James Cook University). v1.6. CSIRO National Collections and Marine Infrastructure (NCMI) Information and Data Centre (IDC). Dataset/Samplingevent. https://www.marine.csiro.au/ipt/resource?r=nesp_seagrass&v=1.6 https://doi.org/10.15468/eplomk accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-12-15.

Description

This dataset summarises 35 years of seagrass data collection (1984-2018) within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area into one GIS shapefile containing seagrass presence and absence survey data for 81,387 sites. This dataset is dominated by 1,010,826 'absent' compared to 47,049 'present' records.

Managing seagrass resources in the GBRWHA requires adequate baseline information on where seagrass is (presence/absence), what species are present, and date of collection. This baseline is particularly important as a reference point against which to compare seagrass loss or change through time. The scale of the GBRWHA (1000s of kilometres) and the remoteness of many seagrass meadows from human populations present a challenge for research and management agencies reporting on the state of seagrass ecological indicators. Broad-scale and repeated surveys/studies of areas this large are logistically and financially impracticable. However seagrass data is being collected through various projects which, although designed for specific reasons, are amenable to collating a picture of the extent and state of the seagrass resource.

The data used here along with additional references and descriptions of the data is at https://eatlas.org.au/data/uuid/18386963-6960-4eb9-889b-d0964069ce13

Additional info

marine, harvested by iOBIS

Taxonomic Coverages

Seagrass taxonomy has changed through time, with species such as Halophila ovata no longer recognised and some doubts expressed about other species whose morphology is relatively plastic. Field surveys have at times grouped species that are difficult to distinguish outside a laboratory. To address these issues we have amalgamated some species into complexes: Halophila ovata, Halophila minor, Halophila colesi/australis and Halophila ovalis are included as Halophila. ovalis. Halodule pinifolia is grouped with Halodule. uninervis. Data collected in winter may underestimate the extent of ephemeral species such as Halophila decipiens and Halophila tricostata. This is important if this composite is used to compare annual changes. Zostera muelleri subsp. capricorni has been abbreviated to Zostera capricorni throughout.

Alismatales
rank: order

Geographic Coverages

Queensland coast, Australia. Seagrass data north and south of the GBRWHA were excluded from the layers. No seagrass site data exists east of the GBRWHA boundary. Data were included when sites extended west of the GBRWHA boundary into coastal and estuarine water immediately adjacent. Modelled distributions are available (Coles et al 2009; Pitcher et al 2007) but not included here.

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

Alex Carter
originator
position: Principal investigator
TropWATER, James Cook University
Townsville
Queensland
AU
email: alexandra.carter@jcu.edu.au

Skye McKenna
originator
position: Co investigators
TropWATER, James Cook University
email: skye.mckenna@jcu.edu.au

Michael Rasheed
originator
position: Co investigators
TropWATER, James Cook University
email: michael.rasheed@jcu.edu.au

Roland Pitcher
originator
position: Co investigators
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
email: roland.pitcher@csiro.au

Len McKenzie
originator
position: Co investigators
TropWATER, James Cook University
email: len.mckenzie@jcu.edu.au

Rob Coles
originator
position: Co investigators
TropWATER, James Cook University
email: rob.coles@jcu.edu.au

eAtlas Data Manager
metadata author
Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)
Townsville
Queensland
AU

OBIS Australia Node manager
publisher
position: OBIS Australia Node manager
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere
PO Box 1538
Hobart
7001
Tasmania
AU
Telephone: +61 (3) 6232 5062
email: obisau@csiro.au
homepage: http://www.obis.org.au

Alex Carter
administrative point of contact
position: Data Access contact
TropWATER, James Cook University
Townsville
Queensland
AU
email: alexandra.carter@jcu.edu.au