Masig Island Seagrass Survey with GIS Layers, Torres Strait 2021

TropWATER and James Cook University conducted intertidal benthic surveys of Masig Island, Torres Strait, in September 2021. The dataset is summarized into three GIS shapefiles covering 120 sites, describing seagrass presence, species composition, meadow communities, and biomass variation. The full report was published in 2022 by Carter et al. as the Torres Strait Seagrass Report Card 2022.

Use Cases

• Map seagrass meadow boundaries based on satellite imagery and field notes mentioned in the description.
• Analyze species composition and biomass variation across 120 survey sites.
• Study correlations between seagrass presence and benthic macro-invertebrate or algae cover.
• Monitor intertidal habitat changes using the temporal survey details and spatial layers.

Strengths

• Includes data from 120 specific survey sites.
• Provides three structured GIS layers (site, meadow, interpolation) for spatial analysis.
• Methodology is documented by the TropWATER Seagrass Group and referenced in a 73-page report.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to a single island survey in September 2021.

Provenance

Source

TropWATER (Centre for Tropical Water & Aquatic Ecosystem Research), James Cook University, Torres Strait Regional Authority Land and Sea Rangers.

Collection Method

Field surveys combined with rectified colour satellite imagery and aerial photography, processed in ArcGIS 10.8.

Time Range

September 2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-18 16:09:20.794473; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Masig Island, Torres Strait, Australia