How do different seagrass species disperse in the Great Barrier Reef?

Hanuise, Douchan;Choukroun, Severine;Rasheed, Michael;Lambrechts, Jonathan;Hanert, Emmanuel;et.al.
(2024) 7th International conference on Marine Connectivity (I-MarCo 2024) — Location: Montpellier (27.May.2024)

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Abstract
Seagrasses provide essential services for human well-being, including fisheries habitat, water filtration, coastal protection and carbon sequestration. Globally, these coastal ecosystems have been declining at an alarming rate due to the cumulative and interactive effects of coastal development, pollution and climate change. Coastal and catchment management and restoration projects have been implemented to mitigate the impacts of human stressors on seagrasses. However, their success rate is highly variable. A comprehensive understanding of seagrass dynamics, especially in tropical regions like the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia, is critical to inform effective mitigation and management approaches. This study focuses on assessing seagrass dispersal and connectivity over the entire GBR, using a high-resolution biophysical modeling approach. A sensitivity analysis will be performed to refine input parameters of GBR biophysical models, such as the impact of vegetation drag coefficient on tropical seagrass dispersal. This refined model will identify metapopulations and source-sink dynamics over decadal time scales. The outputs of this study will inform the evidence base for seagrass management and restoration in the GBR and tropical ecosystems globally by producing new information on dispersal and connectivity processes that influence natural recovery. This information includes identification of suitable meadows for natural recovery, assess isolated and at-risk areas, and identify key contributors to the seagrass network.
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Hanuise, D., Choukroun, S., Rasheed, M., Lambrechts, J., Dobbelaere, T., Grech, A., & Hanert, E. (2024). How do different seagrass species disperse in the Great Barrier Reef? 7th International conference on Marine Connectivity (I-MarCo 2024), Montpellier.