Reason, Carissa, York, Paul, and Rasheed, Michael (2022) Seagrass habitat of Cairns Harbour and Trinity Inlet: Annual Monitoring Report and Cairns Shipping Development Project Monitoring Report 2021. Report. TropWATER, Cairns, QLD, Australia. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

• Seagrass meadows in Cairns Harbour and Trinity Inlet are monitored annually to assess their condition and as an indicator of marine environmental health in the Port of Cairns.

• The three large meadows in Cairns Harbour were in a good condition and remained stable in 2021.

• Due to reductions in area and or biomass the three smaller Estuarine Trinity Inlet monitoring meadows were collectively in a poor condition.

o Two of these small meadows consist of ephemeral species and are highly variable in density and distribution each year.

o The third meadow of larger growing species has improved in condition over the last two years following its complete loss between 2010 and 2015.

• The whole of port assessment in 2021 mapped 1,488 ha of seagrass, the fourth year in a row recording some of largest areas of seagrass in the Cairns region, but a slight reduction compared to the past 3 years.

• Two years after completion of the Cairns Shipping Development Project (CSDP) there were no signs of impacts on the extensive seagrass monitoring meadows adjacent to the harbour works.

• The meadows closest to the dredge operation remained in a good condition and both area and biomass have been stable since the CSDP works were completed.

Item ID:	75930
Item Type:	Report (Report)
Keywords:	Seagrass, Cairns Harbour, Trinity Inlet Ports monitoring
Copyright Information:	© James Cook University, 2022.
Sensitivity Note:	Enquiries about reproduction, including downloading or printing the web version, should be directed to seagrass@jcu.edu.au
Funders:	Ports North (PN)
Date Deposited:	24 Oct 2022 23:07
FoR Codes:	41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410404 Environmental management @ 100%
SEO Codes:	18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1899 Other environmental management > 189999 Other environmental management not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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