Management Concern: High    

Adequacy of Information: Good

Summary extracts from Outlook Report 2009

• Changes in seagrass communities appear to be mainly due to natural cycles of decline and recovery although influenced by run-off from catchments.
• Seagrass meadows are habitat constructors and provide nursery areas for juvenile prawns, fishes, crabs and marine crayfish, all of which are important to commercial and recreational fisheries.
  
• Approximately 6000km² of seagrass meadows occur along the Queensland coast, both in shallow inshore areas and deeper water. An unknown, but larger area probably occurs in the deeper, offshore water of the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
  
• Seagrass habitat has been lost through land reclamation. Seagrass meadows are sensitive to sediments from flood events. They are also sensitive to nutrient inputs.
• Most routine shipping activities have negligible consequences. Dredging and construction of port facilities can have significant, but localised impacts.
• Increasing coastal development is resulting in the loss of both coastal habitats that support the Great Barrier Reef and connectivity between habitats.
  
• Seagrass meadows are sensitive to increasing temperatures and extreme weather events.
• Most of the routine defence training activities carried out in the Great Barrier Reef have negligible impacts. Individual high impact activities are carefully managed and confined to specific localised areas, and limited to a few weeks per year.

What do we know?

Relevant pages from Outlook Online include:

• Trends in seagrass distribution in the Great Barrier Reef
  
• Global distribution of coral, mangrove and seagrass diversity
  
• Diversity and distribution of shallow seagrass beds in the Great Barrier Reef
• Trends in seagrass distribution in the Great Barrier Reef
  
• Flood and cyclone related loss, and partial recovery, of more than 1000 km² of seagrass in Hervey Bay 
  
• Responses of seagrass to nutrients in the Great Barrier Reef
  
• Composition and distribution of flood plumes in the Great Barrier Reef
• Distribution of deep water seagrasses in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  
• Resilience of seagrass beds
  
• Deepwater seagrasses in north eastern Australia - how deep, how meaningful?
  
• Seagrass as nursery for fish and prawn species  
• Development intensification and water quality pressures on the Great Barrier Reef ecosystems
• Marine Monitoring Program - Seagrass
  
• Vulnerability of seagrasses in the Great Barrier Reef to climate change
  
• Sea level rise
  
• An atlas of tropical cyclones in the Great Barrier Reef 1969-1997
  
• Sea surface temperature
• Defence - Outlook Report 2009 supporting information
• Population and urban growth in the Great Barrier Reef catchment
• Population centres in Queensland and Great Barrier Reef catchment 
• Population projections 
  
• Shipping voyages in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  
• Shipping incidents in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
• Major shipping incidents in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
• Great Barrier Reef oil spill risk and equipment 
• The 2006 Gladstone oil spill: environmental impacts 
• Dredging at the Port of Hay Point

Existing policies and management actions

• Water Quality Guidelines for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
• Regional water quality improvement plans
  
• State Coastal Management Plan 2002
  
• Coastal Ecosystem Management Position Paper
• Seagrass Watch
  
• Reef Rescue Marine Monitoring Program
  
• Improving water quality
• Coastal ecosystem protection
• Australian Government policy on climate change 
• Queensland Government climate change policies and strategies 
• Climate Change Action Plan 2007-2012
• Management of water quality
• Fisheries: legislative management arrangements
• Fisheries: other management tools
• Fisheries: information systems 
• The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan
• Implementation of WTO conditions and recommendations from the latest EPBC assessment: progress by fishery
• East coast fin fish fishery independent review
• Queensland Fisheries Strategy 2009-2014 
• Queensland Fisheries policies and legislation
  
• Queensland Fisheries monitoring 
• Queensland Management of Commercial Fisheries
  
• Queensland Management of Recreational Fisheries 
• Fish spawning aggregation protection 
• Environmental Impact Assessment
  
• Plans of Management
• Memorandum of Understanding between GBRMPA and Queensland Ports [1.34MB]
  
• Cruise Shipping Policy for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park [113KB]
  
• Dredging and Spoil Disposal Policy [525KB]
  
• Environmental Impact Management Policy [900KB]

Future management requirements

• Draft Queensland Coastal Management Plan
  
• Biodiversity strategy
• Planned review of the Dredging and Spoil Disposal Policy

Defined research questions

• What long-term changes are likely to occur in seagrass habitats as a result of climate change?
  
• What is the influence of climate and non-climate stressors (e.g. toxicants, salinity, temperature, pH) on seagrass habitats?

Related information

• Current Research and Monitoring