Wilson Inlet Seagrass Distribution and Cover Survey 2017-2022

December 2017 to December 2022 underwater surveys recorded seagrass and macroalgae distribution, percentage cover, canopy height, and epiphytic cover at Wilson Inlet. Observations were made via drop camera or viewing cone across six time points, with water profile data collected at a third of the sites. The dataset is provided by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation.

Use Cases

• Model temporal trends in seagrass percentage cover categories from 2017 to 2022 to assess ecosystem health.
• Analyze the relationship between canopy height intervals and epiphytic cover categories (low, medium, high).
• Map macroalgae distribution using its recorded percentage cover categories across survey years.
• Correlate seagrass cover with ancillary water profile data like secchi depth and photosynthetically active radiation where available.

Strengths

• Six distinct survey time points from 2017 to 2022 provide a multi-year temporal series.
• Records multiple biological metrics: seagrass cover, macroalgae cover, canopy height, and epiphytic cover.
• Includes physical water profile measurements at approximately one third of the observation sites.

Limitations

• Cover data is categorical (e.g., 0-10%, 10-25%) rather than continuous, limiting granular statistical analysis.
• Water profile data (secchi depth, euphotic depth) is not available for all survey sites.
• Unknown sample size (row count) for point observations.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Underwater drop camera observations and/or observations through a viewing cone.

Time Range

December 2017, April 2018, December 2019, December 2020, December 2021, December 2022.

Freshness

Data covers up to December 2022, with metadata last updated in March 2026.

Geography

Wilson Inlet, Australia.