Dugongs

Seagrass meadows are a vital habitat in tropical coastal ecosystems: they support biodiversity of estuarine, coastal and reef communities, including fisheries species, and they are a direct food source for obligate seagrass feeders such as dugongs. Seagrass meadows in the coastal zone also form a buffer between the catchment and the reef, trapping sediments and absorbing nutrients, with their high productivity rates facilitating rapid nutrient cycling.

Project 2.1 will use monitoring, genetics, state-of-the-art tracking and remote sensing to develop, (a) an understanding of the status of marine turtles, (b) a detailed understanding of turtle and dugong spatial ecology, plus the threats to these populations, and (c) dugong population assessments. The project will both improve stakeholder understanding, capacity and skills to better manage priority species and provide valuable data that is useable and understandable to those making decisions regarding turtle and dugongs.