| | Navigate the Atlas:  | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | | Cockburn Sound, West Australia, Indian Ocean |
| |
| | This embayment is one of the busiest and most intensively used in Australia, the busiest in Western Australia. Its most ecologically important habitat is seagrass. Yet past activities such as the dumping of waste water, stormwater run-off, and pollution of groundwater created by suburban and urban industries and households has severely impacted the once extensive coverage of seagrass. In particular an underwater dump of gypsum created eutrophic waters, and therefore encouraged algal blooms and resulted in the death of significant amounts of seagrasses. 3300ha of the original 4000ha in Cockburn Sound were lost in the 1970s and none have returned. | | | | Seagrasses are a haven for many marine invertebrates, such as Blue Manna crabs, worms, molluscs and small crustaceans, which play an important role in food chains. Seagrass loss is a threat to many species that rely on the amazing biodiversity and biomass of in seagrass meadows. Without seagrass the whole chain of productivity collapses. | | | | The seagrasses themselves are a food source for marine animals, for example, dugongs. Dugong fecundity is very sensitive to seagrass availability as a food source. When dugongs do not have enough to eat they delay breeding, making seagrass conservation a critical issue for this species. Despite this loss there is hope. New transplanting methods could mean that seagrass beds recover as water quality in the sound has improved to such an extent over the last decade that seagrasses could now theoretically survive. | | | | |
 | | | | | | | Title | Dugong Status Report and Action Plans for Countries and Territories. by H. Marsh
( WEBSITE )
| |
| Keywords | DUGONG; ACTION PLAN | |
| Content Language(s) | English | | Web Address (URL) | http://www.unep.org/DEWA/reports/dugongreport.asp | |
| Type of Website | Institutional website | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | |
|
| UNEP - WCMC
|
|
1076 Topics - 5135 Related Knowledge - 2534 Members - 34 Editors |
generationTime:2005/01/13 14:59:05 |
