Seagrass Biomass and Productivity Surveys in Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia

47 visual survey transects were conducted in Exmouth Gulf during August/September 1995 to assess seagrass abundance. Destructive sampling at three sites involved collecting biomass from 0.25m² quadrats and tagging shoots for growth analysis. This research was initiated by the Australian Ocean Data Network to evaluate seagrass contributions to local food webs.

Use Cases

• Modeling carbon storage in seagrass meadows based on biomass and carbon content measurements.
• Assessing species-specific productivity rates based on tagged shoot growth data.
• Analyzing spatial distribution of seagrass genera based on percent cover surveys along transects.
• Studying the relationship between above-ground and below-ground biomass from collected samples.

Strengths

• Surveys cover 47 transects along both eastern and western coasts of Exmouth Gulf.
• Includes destructive sampling with biomass removal from quadrats to 20cm depth.
• Provides taxonomic identification to genus level and chemical analysis for carbon and nitrogen.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is from a single campaign in 1995; temporal coverage is limited.
• Below-ground material for Thalassodendron ciliatum was not collected, limiting full biomass assessment.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Visual surveys, destructive sampling of quadrats, and tagged shoot growth measurements.

Time Range

August/September 1995

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 14:26:09.855866; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia