Eastern Torres Strait Seagrass Survey with Biomass and Species Data, 2020

798 intertidal survey sites in the Eastern Torres Strait, Australia, were assessed for seagrass presence, species composition, algae cover, and benthic macro-invertebrate cover in September 2020. The dataset, produced by TropWATER at James Cook University, is summarized in three GIS shapefiles detailing sites, meadows, and interpolated biomass. Data collection involved helicopter-based visual estimates and quadrat sampling following established TropWATER Seagrass Group methods.

Use Cases

• Map seagrass meadow distribution and health based on site-level presence/absence and community composition data.
• Model spatial variation in seagrass biomass across intertidal zones using the interpolation shapefile.
• Assess benthic habitat composition by analyzing algae and benthic macro-invertebrate cover percentages recorded at each site.
• Calibrate remote sensing or drone-based seagrass monitoring with ground-truthed biomass and species contribution estimates.

Strengths

• Surveys cover 798 distinct geolocated sites, providing a substantial sample size for spatial analysis.
• Data includes multiple derived metrics: seagrass presence/absence, species composition, algae cover, benthic macro-invertebrate cover, and calibrated biomass estimates.
• Methods are documented in a peer-reviewed report (Carter et al., 2021) and follow established TropWATER protocols, suggesting methodological rigor.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• Freshness should be verified; the last update timestamp (2026-06-17) is significantly later than the survey date (2020).

Provenance

Source

TropWATER (Centre for Tropical Water & Aquatic Ecosystem Research), James Cook University.

Collection Method

Helicopter-based surveys with GPS recording, visual estimates of seagrass cover and biomass from quadrats, and calibrated biomass ranking.

Time Range

September 2020

Freshness

Survey conducted September 2020; metadata last updated 2026-06-17.

Geography

Eastern Cluster, Torres Strait, Australia.