Hardy Inlet Seagrass Cover and Species Distribution Surveys

Hardy Inlet Seagrass Survey data contains underwater drop camera observations from December 2018 and January 2020. The dataset records seagrass species distribution, percentage cover in categorical ranges, canopy height in 10 cm intervals, and epiphytic cover levels. Macroalgae distribution and cover, along with physical water profiles and secchi depth from a subset of sites, are also included.

Use Cases

• Model seagrass species distribution based on percentage cover categories and canopy height intervals.
• Analyze correlations between epiphytic cover levels (low, medium, high) and seagrass percentage cover categories.
• Assess macroalgae distribution and its percentage cover categories relative to seagrass presence.
• Investigate water quality impacts using physical water profiles and secchi depth measurements from a third of the survey sites.

Strengths

• Data collected via standardized underwater drop camera observations across two distinct survey periods.
• Includes multiple derived geospatial layers (point, polygon extent, polygon cover) for 2018 and 2020.
• Measures key ecological variables like canopy height in 10 cm intervals and categorical epiphytic cover.

Limitations

• Sample size and row count are unknown, limiting statistical power assessments.
• Percentage cover data is categorical, not continuous, reducing granularity for some analyses.
• Water profile and secchi depth data is only available for approximately one third of the sites.

Provenance

Source

Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER), Geospatial and Data Services Manager.

Collection Method

Underwater drop camera observations.

Time Range

December 2018 and January 2020.

Freshness

Data last updated in the system on March 24, 2026, but the underlying surveys are from 2018 and 2020.

Geography

Hardy Inlet, Western Australia.