Intertidal unspecified strap seagrass

Long description

Intertidal seagrass meadows dominated by strap growth forms with unspecified width due to the available data and particularly species allocation. Strap seagrasses include Zostera muelleri subsp. capricorni*, Cymodocea rotundata, Cymodocea serrulata, Enhalus acoroides, Halodule pinifolia, Halodule uninervis and Thalassia hemprichii. These meadows can also include seagrasses with other growth forms, such as Halophila spp., Syringodium isoetifolium and Thalassodendron ciliatum.

Seagrasses are not a taxonomically unified group, but rather an ecological group that arose through convergent evolution and includes several different families. They are all flowering plants that live underwater and need light to photosynthesise. They also produce seeds. They grow on muds, sands and fine gravels which may be mobile. Meadows may include other structural macrobiota such as encrusting algae, erect macrophyte algae, bryozoans, sponges and molluscs (e.g. bivalves, cockles, whelks, razor clam beds), together with mobile invertebrate fauna, such as sea cucumbers, crabs (e.g. commercial sand crabs and other portunids) and polychaete worms.

*Revision of Zostera capricorni has resulted in classification to subspecies. In Queensland, Zostera capricorni has been revised to Zostera muelleri subsp. capricorni[3].

Special values

Seagrasses provide a wide range of services, including:

• primary production, carbon fixation and nutrient removal
• support numerous herbivore and detritivore-based food webs, including food for dugongs and green turtles (mostly H. uninervis and H. ovalis), and many fisheries species (e.g. prawns and fishes) and others (e.g. razor clam)
• fisheries habitat (e.g. food, refuge and reproduction)
• coastal protection, erosion control and sediment capture
• tourism, recreation, education and research[5][8][4].

The fisheries value of seagrass habitat as nursery grounds for juvenile commercial fish and prawn species in Queensland is well documented[6][9].

For additional special values, see type (15).

Diagnostic attributes

Inundation 'Intertidal – Lower low', 'Intertidal – Mid low', 'Intertidal – Upper low', 'Intertidal – Low undifferentiated', 'Intertidal – Lower medium', 'Intertidal – Upper-medium', 'Intertidal – Medium undifferentiated', 'Intertidal – High', 'Intertidal – Undifferentiated', 'Intertidal – High undifferentiated', although mangroves usually occur at mean sea level and above.

Structural macrobiota 'Seagrass – strap width unspecified'

Qualifiers

Seagrass ecosystems vary in Period and Trend (seasonally and from year to year). The species composition, extent and biomass of seagrass meadows can vary seasonally and between years. The extent and biomass of seagrass meadows along the Queensland east coast are typically maximal in late spring and summer, and minimal over winter[1][2][7].

Distribution

Strap seagrasses are known to occur in low wave energy areas along Queensland intertidal shorelines, such as within estuaries[10].

The following relates to distribution of this ecosystem type within the Central Queensland mapping area:

• This ecosystem type was allocated to cover strap seagrass whose width was not possible to identify.
• Thalassia hemprichii does not occur in Central Queensland.

Comments

See type 12 for detailed discussion of relevant attributes.

Additional Information

Seagrass - Queensland Government

Case study: Hervey Bay seagrass and dugong - Queensland Government

Saltmarshes, seagrasses and algae - Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

Seagrass-Watch: guides and manuals

Seagrasses in Queensland (pamphlet)

Seagrass - Queensland Government

Seagrasses - Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)

A Vulnerability Assessment for the Great Barrier Reef - Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

Seagrass Restoration Network

References

1. ^ Bruinsma, C & Danaher, K (2001), Queensland Coastal Wetland Resources: Round Hill Head to Tin Can Inlet.. [online], vol. QI99081, Department of Primary Industries, Queensland Government., Brisbane. Available at: http://era.daf.qld.gov.au/id/eprint/3545/.
2. ^ Danaher, K, Rasheed, M & Thomas, R (2005), The intertidal wetlands of Port Curtis, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.
3. ^ Jacobs, S & Les, D (26 October 2009), 'New combinations in Zostera (Zosteraceae)', Telopea. [online], vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 419-423. Available at: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/emuwebnswlive/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=55023&reftable=ebibliography [Accessed 25 March 2019].
4. ^ Kilminster, K, McMahon, K, Waycott, M, Kendrick, GA, Scanes, P, McKenzie, L, O'Brien, KR, Lyons, M, Ferguson, A & Maxwell, P (2005), 'Unravelling complexity in seagrass systems for management: Australia as a microcosm', Science of the Total Environment, vol. 534, pp. 97-109, Elsevier.
5. ^ McKenzie, LJ, Collier, CJ, Langlois, LA, Yoshida, RL, Smith, N & Waycott, M (2018), Marine Monitoring Program: Annual Report for inshore seagrass monitoring 2016-2017. Report for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. [online], p. 248pp., Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville. Available at: http://elibrary.gbrmpa.gov.au/jspui/handle/11017/3398.
6. ^ Rasheed, MA, Lee Long, WJ, McKenzie, LJ, Roder, CA, Roelofs, AJ & Coles, RG (1996), Port of Karumba: seagrass monitoring baseline surveys, Dry-season (Oct.) 1994 - Wet-season (Mar.) 1995, Ports Corp. of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld..
7. ^ Sheaves, M (2005), 'Nature and consequences of biological connectivity in mangrove systems', Marine Ecology Progress Series. [online], vol. 302, pp. 293-305. Available at: http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v302/p293-305/ [Accessed 15 March 2019].
8. ^ Sheppard, JK, Preen, AR, Marsh, H, Lawler, IR, Whiting, SD & Jones, RE (2006), 'Movement heterogeneity of dugongs, Dugong dugon(Müller), over large spatial scales', Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology, vol. 334, no. 1, pp. 64-83, Elsevier.
9. ^ Watson, R, Coles, R & Lee Long, W (1993), 'Simulation estimates of annual yield and landed value for commercial penaeid prawns from a tropical seagrass habitat, Northern Queensland, Australia', Marine and Freshwater Research. [online], vol. 44, no. 1, p. 211. Available at: http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=MF9930211 [Accessed 8 April 2019].
10. ^ Zeller, B (1998), Queensland's fisheries habitats: current condition and recent trends, vol. DPI Information Series Q198025, The State of Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane.

Last updated: 19 July 2019