Seagrass Monitoring Program
Supported seagrass monitoring along the Northern Adelaide Coast, providing robust scientific evidence on the impacts of a sand recycling dredging trial to inform government coastal management decisions.
Location: Northern Adelaide Coast, South Australia
Client/Sector: Department for Environment and Water
Challenge:
The South Australian Government conducted a dredging trial to test sand recycling as a long-term strategy for maintaining metropolitan beaches. Regulatory approvals required rigorous ecological monitoring to determine whether dredging activities affected nearby seagrass habitats, which are critical to coastal ecosystem health and stability.
Aquatic Assessments Role:
Aquatic Assessments contributed marine ecological expertise to support the seagrass monitoring and evaluation program. The work involved conducting benthic habitat monitoring, analysing monitoring data at North Haven, Tennyson and West Beach, applying approved scientific methodologies to assess seagrass cover, density, species composition and epiphyte load. Statistical analyses were undertaken to detect changes in seagrass condition and determine whether any observed differences could be attributed to dredging activities.
Outcome:
The monitoring program provided government decision-makers with robust scientific evidence on the condition of seagrass habitats following the dredge trial. The results contributed to an evidence-based assessment of the environmental feasibility of sand recycling as a coastal management strategy for Adelaide’s beaches.