Unravelling complexity in seagrass systems for management: Australia as a microcosm

Kilminster, Kieryn; McMahon, Kathryn; Waycott, Michelle; Kendrick, Gary A.; Scanes, Peter; McKenzie, Len J.; O’Brien, Katherine R.; Lyons, Mitchell; Ferguson, A.; Maxwell, Paul; Glasby, Tim M.; Udy, James

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.04.061

Cited by 242 publications

(281 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Other legislation and policies influence how tests of significance are applied and the options available for offsetting. For example, in some jurisdictions local policy classifying an area as being of 'urban use' allows for loss of some habitat such as seagrass which prevents the realisation of an aim of NNL in these areas (Kilminster et al, 2015). Furthermore, establishing marine offset projects is complicated by the overlapping use of an area by different sectors and activities such as shipping and both commercial and recreational fishing.…”

Section: Legal and Policy Context In Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Approximately half (48%, n=35) of projects presenting impacts to seagrass considered the issue of equivalence and the majority of those led to habitat restoration or 'like for like' biodiversity offsets. Seagrass habitat is afforded protection in all Australian states (Kilminster et al, 2015;Kirkman, 1997), ranging from direct protection of habitat or indirectly through the protection of fish productivity or water quality targets (Kilminster et al, 2015). Well documented and extensive losses of seagrass habitat across much of Australia's coastline have also led to guidelines in a number of states that mandate the mitigation hierarchy when assessing impacts on seagrass (Kilminster et al, 2015).…”

Section: Quantification Of Impact and The Equivalence Of Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Realising a vision of no net loss through marine biodiversity offsetting in Australia

Niner

Milligan

Jones

et al. 2017

Ocean & Coastal Management

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Biodiversity offsets are increasingly used in policy frameworks to regulate the environmental impacts of development including projects located in marine environments. Scientific knowledge gaps and other practical challenges have necessitated flexibility concerning the manner in which key offsetting principles are implemented in policy frameworks relevant to such environments. The potential tradeoff of such flexibility is that consequent marine offsetting practice may not be compatible with the ultimate objective of no net loss of biodiversity. Here we present a systematic review of marine and coastal development projects in Australia, examining how offsetting is being implemented in practice. Forty-two (42) projects were assessed, predominantly located in Queensland and Western Australia and associated with the development and operation of ports. We find that application of key biodiversity offsetting principles (e.g. ecological equivalence) was frequently incomplete or absent. For approximately 50% of reviewed projects we were unable to identify public information concerning how offsetting requirements were established. The current environmental outcomes of marine biodiversity offsetting in Australia are unclear but there are indications that it is unlikely to achieve no net loss of biodiversity.

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Section: Legal and Policy Context In Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Quantification Of Impact and The Equivalence Of Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Realising a vision of no net loss through marine biodiversity offsetting in Australia

Niner

Milligan

Jones

et al. 2017

Ocean & Coastal Management

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“…These 2 seagrass species are morphologi-cally similar and often occur in mixed beds, but they have different ecological strategies: R. maritima can be classified as a colonizing species, while H. wrightii is closer to an opportunistic seagrass species (Kilminster et al 2015). Colonizing seagrasses have the ability to quickly establish themselves in new areas, but their biomass can fluctuate significantly over time (Pulich 1985, Cho et al 2009, Kilminster et al 2015.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Opportunistic species also have the ability to colonize new areas, but they tend to form meadows that are more persistent over time and have greater resistance to physiological disturbances than purely colonizing species (Kilminster et al 2015). H. wrightii is a perennial seagrass that maintains a high level of productivity under a wide variety of light, nutrient, and salinity conditions (Dunton 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional implications of changes in seagrass species composition in two shallow coastal lagoons

Christiaen¹,

Lehrter²,

Goff³

et al. 2016

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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While the consequences of losing seagrass meadows are well known, there is less information on the functional implications of changes in seagrass species composition. In this study, we use data from a long-term monitoring project in shallow lagoons on the Florida Gulf Coast to assess changes in the functional attributes of seagrass beds during a shift in seagrass species composition. We compare seagrass beds in 2 neighboring lagoons with different trends: one where the composition changed from 100% Halodule wrightii to a mixed bed with up to 60% Ruppia maritima, and one where the species composition remained unchanged. Our results indicate that the partial replacement of H. wrightii by R. maritima did not alter seagrass biomass m , benthic gross primary production, or benthic respiration. However, there was a small positive effect on benthic net primary production. While seagrass biomass m −2 declined at both sites, the emergence of R. maritima increased the amount of available habitat through rapid expansion. Overall, our data suggest that shifts between 2 seagrass species with similar morphology, but different ecological strategies, may have little impact on the ecosystem services of seagrass beds in shallow coastal lagoons.

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“…It provides substratum to a species-rich epiphytic community [12,13], which achieves maximum biomass between the end of spring and the end of summer [1,14]. Monitoring of epiphyte of P. oceanica beds is becoming a useful tool to test the health of coastal environment and several countries have developed programs to study the distribution and the characteristics of seagrass beds and their epiphyte [1,[15][16][17][18]. The effect of different kinds of human-induced disturbances on A RT I C L E I N F O A B S T R AC T seagrasses in Tunisian coast include such phenomena as reduced water clarity (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variability in patterns of macro-epiphytic leaf community of Posidonia oceanica in the Islands of Kuriate: Western coast of Tunisia

Mounir¹,

Moufida²,

Feki-Sahnoun³

et al. 2016

J Coast Life Med

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Unravelling complexity in seagrass systems for management: Australia as a microcosm

Cited by 242 publications

References 77 publications

Realising a vision of no net loss through marine biodiversity offsetting in Australia

Realising a vision of no net loss through marine biodiversity offsetting in Australia

Functional implications of changes in seagrass species composition in two shallow coastal lagoons

Variability in patterns of macro-epiphytic leaf community of Posidonia oceanica in the Islands of Kuriate: Western coast of Tunisia

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