Seagrass spatial data synthesis from north-east Australia, Torres Strait and Gulf of Carpentaria, 1983 to 2022

Torres Strait Indigenous Rangers

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1 Citation (Scopus)
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Abstract

The Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait in north-eastern Australia support globally significant seagrass ecosystems that underpin fishing and cultural heritage of the region. Reliable data on seagrass distribution are critical to understanding how these ecosystems are changing, while managing for resilience. Spatial data on seagrass have been collected since the early 1980s, but the early data were poorly curated. Some was not publicly available, and some already lost. We validated and synthesized historical seagrass spatial data to create a publicly available database. We include a site layer of 48,612 geolocated data points including information on seagrass presence/absence, sediment, collection date, and data custodian. We include a polygon layer with 641 individual seagrass meadows. Thirteen seagrass species are identified in depths ranging from intertidal to 38 m below mean sea level. Our synthesis includes scientific survey data from 1983 to 2022 and provides an important evidence base for marine resource management.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7-22
Number of pages16
JournalLimnology And Oceanography Letters
Volume9
Issue number1
Early online date2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2024

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and custodians of the Sea Country on which this research took place, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and future. We honor their continuing culture, knowledge, beliefs and spiritual relationship and connection to Country. We thank the many individuals who contributed toward data collection and to create the original spatial layers included in this consolidation. We thank Australian Fisheries Management Authority; Cape York Natural Heritage Trust; Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation; CRC Torres Strait; CRC Reef Research Centre; Fisheries Research Development Corporation; li‐Anthawirriyarra Sea Ranger Unit; Mabunji Aboriginal Resource Indigenous Corporation; National Oceans Office; Natural Heritage Trust, Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage; National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Tropical Water Quality Hub; Northern Australia Environmental Resources Hub; North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance; Northern Territory Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security; North Queensland Bulk Ports; DParks Australia North Network; Migratory Species Section, Biodiversity Conservation Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water; Ports North; Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries; and Torres Strait Regional Authority for providing funding for seagrass surveys and/or data included in this project. The authors wish to thank Adam Fletcher, Louise Johns, Coco Cullen‐Knox, Donna Kwan, Micheli Costa, and Simone Strydom for their thoughtful reviews of this work. Part of this article was included in a report: Carter A, McKenna S, Rasheed M, Taylor H, van de Wetering C, Chartrand K, Reason C, Collier C, Shepherd L, Mellors J, McKenzie L, Roelofs A, Smit N, Groom R, Barrett D, Evans S, Pitcher R, Murphy N, Duke NC, Carlisle M, David M, Lui S, Torres Strait Indigenous Rangers (led by Pearson L, Laza T, Bon A), and Coles RG (2022). Four Decades of Seagrass Spatial Data from Torres Strait and Gulf of Carpentaria. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), James Cook University. pp. 44. Open access publishing facilitated by James Cook University, as part of the Wiley ‐ James Cook University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.

Funding Information:
This work was undertaken for the Marine and Coastal Hub, a collaborative partnership supported through funding from the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Program‐Marine and Coastal Hub (NESP; Project 1.13) and Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) in partnership with the Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), James Cook University.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Limnology and Oceanography published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.

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