Australia’s seagrass meadows are under threat of decimation from coastal development, marine sediments and climate change.  

Edith Cowan University (ECU) scientists have been the first to map the current and future risks to Australia’s seagrass meadows across the continent’s entire 35,000km coastline. While the news is not good, it does provide vital information to understand and prioritise these threats, to ensure our important marine ecosystems survive and thrive.  

Lead researcher Associate Professor Kathryn McMahon says the study was the first to provide a national overview of threats that identified the risk to ecosystems at a local level.  

“We’ve analysed the threats in individual 10sqkm blocks and overlaid them with where seagrass meadows are present to give an understanding of which threats seagrasses are facing in particular areas of the country,” she said.  

“The challenges facing seagrass in tropical north Queensland are very different from those on the south coast of Western Australia or in New South Wales.  

“This approach will allow governments and environmental managers to use our research to make decisions about how to conserve seagrass meadows in the most effective manner.”  

The record-breaking rains affecting much of Australia’s east coast in 2022 could become much more common with climate change in this region - which would be bad news for seagrasses.  

Just like terrestrial plants, seagrass needs light to survive. If there is too much mud, dirt or other material washed into the waterways it reduces the amount of light reaching their leaves, affecting their growth or even killing off entire meadows.  

“These flood events are one of the biggest risks facing seagrasses along the east coast, but our research shows they are not as likely in other areas,” Professor McMahon said. 

“For example, seagrass on the New South Wales coast is at high risk from increasing rainfall in the future, which can wash sediments into rivers and estuaries.  

“There is also a risk from what we call resuspension of sediment, when storms or cyclones pick up this material and drag it up into the water column.  

“Seagrasses in Queensland and the tropical north of the country have a high risk from resuspension from those cyclones and storms.”

Associate Professor McMahon said this new research gives organisations looking to preserve marine ecosystems a better idea of the kinds of threats they face.   

The study is accessible here.