2022-04-12-P&E Agenda - Item 6 - Attachment 3- Appendix 2 - Current and Historical Distribution of Seagrass in the Noosa Estuary

                                                                                                                        Ecological Service Professionals
                                                                                                                                             Sustainable Science Solutions

    Table 7.2    Seagrass condition index criteria

 Seagrass Condition         Criteria Score
 Index

 Score                                      1                                2                              3                                4

 Structural Complexity      Low structural complexity (i.e.   Moderate structural complexity   High structural complexity     High structural complexity (i.e.
                            max length of seagrass blades     (i.e. max length of seagrass     (i.e. max length of seagrass   max length of seagrass blades
                            <10cm, depending on               blades 10 to 20cm; depending     blades 20 to 30cm              >40cm depending on dominant
                            dominant species present)         on dominant species present)     depending on dominant          species present)
                                                                                               species present)

 Coverage of epiphytic      Low or very high cover of         High cover of epiphytic algae    Moderate cover of epiphytic    Moderate cover of epiphytic
 algae                      epiphytic algae (<20% or          >60% of seagrass blades OR       algae (20-30%)                 algae (30-40%)
                            >80%)                             low cover of epiphytic (<20%)

 Presence of                Presence of dense                 Sparse coverage of                                              Cyanobacterial mats such as
 cyanobacterial mats        cyanobacterial mats               cyanobacterial mats (Lyngbya).                                  Lyngbya absent
                            (Lyngbya).

 Coverage of seagrass       Sparse coverage of seagrass       Sparse coverage of seagrass      Moderately dense coverage      Dense coverage of seagrass
                            (<10%)                            (10 to 30%)                      of seagrass (30-60%)           (>60%)

 Seagrass Condition         Poor                              Fair                             Good                           Very Good
 Index (as defined by
 the metrics below)

 Total Condition            <4                                5 to 8                           9 to 13                        14 to 16
 Index Score




Assessing Distribution of Seagrass in the Noosa Estuary                                           A-34