2022-11-08 P&E Agenda - Item 6 - Attachment 1 - Current & Historical Distribution of Seagrass in the Noosa Estuary (40 pages)

                                                                Ecological Service Professionals
                                                                                     Sustainable Science Solutions




List of Figures

Figure 2.1   Location of study area and reaches assessed along the Noosa River in November
             2020                                                                                  4
Figure 3.1   Dense Zostera muelleri at the mouth of Lake Weyba                                     8
Figure 3.2   Dense Zostera muelleri patches along the main river channel at Tewantin               9
Figure 3.3   Dense Halophila ovalis growing in Lake Doonella in November 2020                      9
Figure 3.4   Small patch of Zostera muelleri growing along the Goat Island in the main Noosa
             River Channel in November 2020                                                       10
Figure 3.5   Z. muelleri with dense epiphytic algae in Weyba Creek in November 2020               11
Figure 3.6   Sparse Z. muelleri with moderate (40%) epiphytic algae growing along channel in
             Weyba Creek in November 2020                                                         12
Figure 3.7   Small dense patches of Z. muelleri becoming smothered by mobile sand bars in
             Weyba Creek                                                                          13
Figure 4.1   Extensive seagrass beds (shown as darker patches) at the mouth of Lake Weyba
             and entrance to Weyba Creek in August 1986 (Source: QLD Government 2021b) 17
Figure 4.2   Historical distribution of seagrass in the Lake Cooroibah reach in 1989, 2006, 2009
             and 2020                                                                             18
Figure 4.3   Historical distribution of seagrass in the Tewantin, Lake Doonella and Goat Island
             reaches in 1989, 2006, 2009 and 2020                                                 19
Figure 4.4   Historical distribution of seagrass in the Weyba Creek reach in 1989, 2006, 2009
             and 2020                                                                             20
Figure 4.5   Aerial image of the mouth of Noosa River on 24 February 1992 showing the
             majority of the flood plume bypassing Weyba Creek and Noosa Sound, and
             extending out into Laguna Bay (Source QLD Government 2021a)                        A-21
Figure 4.6   Monthly total rainfall (mm) measured at Kiamba BOM station from 1952 to 2014 A-22
Figure 4.7   Total volume of water discharged at Teewah Creek gauging station between 1972
             and 2021                                                                           A-23
Figure 5.1   Aerial imagery from (a) June 1972 and (b) November 1974, showing the change in
             estuarine habitat due to urban development at the mouth of the Noosa Estuary
             (Source QLD Government 2021a)                                                      A-26



List of Tables

Table 2.1    Criteria used to determine the fisheries habitat value of seagrass based on review
             of available literature                                                           A-32
                      2
Table 3.1    Area (m ) of seagrass mapped in Noosa Estuary November 2020                          7
Table 4.1    Historical comparison of seagrass area within Noosa Estuary                         14




Assessing Distribution of Seagrass in the Noosa Estuary