earth science

Seagrasses of Western Australia

Seagrasses of Western Australia is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Seagrasses of Western Australia rather than just read about it. In short: The Seagrasses of Western Australia are submerged flowering plants found along the coast, around islands, and in Estuaries of Western Australia. The region contains some of the largest seagrass meadows in the world, and is the most diverse in the number of species.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

The Seagrasses of Western Australia are submerged flowering plants found along the coast, around islands, and in Estuaries of Western Australia. The region contains some of the largest seagrass meadows in the world, and is the most diverse in the number of species. The variety of habitats along its western and southern coasts is often soft sands in shallow subtropical waters, ideal for these plants.

Description Marine grasses are flowering plants that evolved from terrestrial grasses to habitat in coastal waters. In contrast to seaweeds, usually found on rocks, seagrass colonises sandy ocean beds to form dense stands and meadows. The Western Australian coastline, along with its islands, is over 20,000 km long. These tropical to temperate waters extend from latitudes 32-34°S to 12°S. The great diversity of habitat in these coastal regions of Western Australia are occupied by seagrasses, frequently 'engineering' habitat through colonisation of shallow ocean floors. These plants possess rhizomes which extend under the sand, stems emerge from these with one, or many, flattened and elongated leaves. These features allow the plants to stabilise the substrate, anchor themselves against currents, and change the environment. A colony may have one or several species of seagrass, and a large number of other species living within it. The area covered by seagrass in Western Australian waters is equivalent to Australia's rainforest.

Distribution The range extends to the temperate regions of the Southern Ocean. Some areas of the southern coast provide suitable habitat, such as those at King George Sound and the Archipelago of the Recherche, the warmer water of the Leeuwin Current contributes the diversity of these seagrass communities. The western coast contain notable and diverse seagrass beds; Cockburn Sound and the Swan River estuary, and the Houtman Abrolhos, Rottnest Island and other islands. The Wooramel Seagrass Bank 12 species - estimated 4,500 km2 of seabed - at Shark Bay is the largest reported seagrass meadows in the world (Walker, 1989). The Timor Sea is largely unsurveyed.

Ecosystem Seagrasses are the foundation of complex ecosystems, primarily from the ability to colonise inshore coastal sand with its roots and matted rhizomes. These meadows are able to provide habitat to other species, especially epiphytic relationships, and are a food source for other organisms. Western rock lobsters are found as juveniles amongst seagrass, receiving food and shelter until they reach maturity. The leaves are also eaten by dugong and other creatures.

Diversity The seagrasses of Western Australia are the most diverse of any region in the world, 26 species in 11 genera are currently described. The four families of Alismatales includes three genera within Hydrocharitaceae, a largely aquatic family of tape grasses, and seven other genera of marine species.

Hydrocharitaceae Enhalus acoroides (L.f.) Royle Halophila australis Doty & B.C.Stone Halophila decipiens Ostenf. Halophila minor (Zoll.) Hartog Halophila ovalis (R.Br.) Hook.f. Halophila spinulosa (R.Br.) Asch. Thalassia hemprichii (Ehrenb.) Asch. Cymodoceaceae Amphibolis antarctica (Labill.) Sonder et Aschers. ex Aschers. (Wire weed, Sea Nymph) Amphibolis griffithii (J.Black) den Hartog Cymodocea angustata Ostenfeld Cymodocea serrulata (R.Br.) Asch. et Magnus Halodule pinifolia (Miki) den Hartog Halodule uninervis (Forsk.) Aschers. Syringodium isoetifolium (Aschers.) Dandy Thalassodendron ciliatum (Forrsk.) den Hartog Thalassodendron pachyrhizum den Hartog Posidoniaceae Posidonia angustifolia Cambridge and J.Kuo Posidonia australis Hook.f. (Ribbon weed) Posidonia coriacea Cambridge and J.Kuo Posidonia denhartogii J.Kuo and Cambridge Posidonia kirkmanii J.Kuo and Cambridge Posidonia ostenfeldii den Hartog Posidonia robertsoniae J.Kuo and Cambridge Posidonia sinuosa Cambridge and J.Kuo Zosteraceae Heterozostera nigricaulis J.Kuo Heterozostera polychlamys J.Kuo Zostera muelleri Asch. Zostera muelleri subsp. mucronata (Hartog) S.W.L.Jacobs

See also Coastal regions of Western Australia

Notes

References Rippey, Elizabeth; Rowland (Reinette), Barbara (2004) [1995]. "Seagrasses". Coastal plants: Perth and the south-west region (2nd ed.). Perth: University of Western Australia Press. pp. 243–247. ISBN 1-920694-05-6. van Keulen, Mike (25 October 2005). "Seagrasses of Western Australia". Retrieved 2008-09-19. New combinations in Australasian Zostera (Zosteraceae). Telopea 11(2) 127-128 [1] Poiner, I. R.; Peterken, C. "Seagrasses: Seagrasses of Western Australia". State of the Marine Environment Report for Australia: The Marine Environment - Technical Annex: 1. CSIRO (Division of Fisheries). Cockburn Sound ... by 1978, 97% of the original 34 km2 of seagrass had been lost (Cambridge & McComb 1984).

External links Seagrasses of Western Australia

Further reading Thomson, Carolyn (1997) Discovering Shark Bay Marine Park and Monkey Mia Como, W.A. Department of Conservation and Land Management. ISBN 0-7309-6854-5 pp. 46–47 - includes mention mainly of wireweed and ribbon weed. Walker, D.I. (1990) Seagrass in Shark Bay, Western Australia. In: "Research in Shark Bay: Report of the France-Australe Bicentenary Expedition Committee." (Eds. P.F. Berry, S.D. Bradshaw, B.R. Wilson) (Western Australian Museum, Perth). p. 101-6

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Seagrasses of Western Australia

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Seagrasses of Western Australia claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Seagrasses of Western Australia before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Seagrasses of Western Australia ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Seagrasses of Western Australia

In research: Seagrasses of Western Australia appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Seagrasses of Western Australia in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Seagrasses of Western Australia is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Angiosperms of Western Australia, Biota of the Indian Ocean, Coastline of Western Australia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Seagrasses of Western Australia outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Seagrasses of Western Australia in simple terms?

Why does Seagrasses of Western Australia matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Seagrasses of Western Australia?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

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It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Seagrasses of Western Australia.