Leschenault Estuary Seagrass Survey 2009 with Species Presence and Cover Polygons

Aquatic flora surveys were conducted in the Leschenault Estuary in April 2009. The data includes a point dataset of species presence/absence and a polygon dataset of interpolated percentage cover. This baseline data was collected by the WA Department of Water and Geoscience Australia for a 2013 Australia-wide seagrass risk assessment.

Use Cases

• Map seagrass distribution based on the polygon dataset showing interpolated percentage cover.
• Analyze species composition and presence/absence patterns from the point survey data.
• Establish a 2009 baseline for comparison with later surveys conducted from 2015 to 2023.
• Assess estuarine habitat health and inform conservation planning based on seagrass coverage.

Strengths

• Includes two complementary geospatial datasets: point locations and derived polygon coverages.
• Serves as a defined baseline from April 2009 for a long-term monitoring series.
• Data is associated with a formal 2013 synthesis report by the Water Science Branch.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The 2009 data is a snapshot; analysis of trends requires accessing separate records for later surveys.

Provenance

Source

WA Department of Water and Geoscience Australia, via the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Field surveys for aquatic flora, with data interpolated into polygons.

Time Range

April 2009

Freshness

Metadata last updated 2026-07-13; the core data is from 2009.

Geography

Leschenault Estuary, Western Australia