Top of page

Student/Staff Portal
Global Site Navigation

School of Science

Local Section Navigation
You are here: Main Content
  • Conceptual model

    Conceptual model applying Willems (1970) cup and ball theory to depict the impact disturbance can have on seagrass ecosystems.

Related Contents

Seagrass Resilience: Exploring recovery trajectories, succession and facilitation

Globally, seagrass ecosystems occur in coastal systems that are both naturally disturbed, such as by cyclones and anthropogenically disturbed, such as by boat scarring. As the severity of climate change increases, the frequency of these natural disturbances could also increase. While the resilience of seagrass meadows allows them to cope with natural disturbance, the increased frequency of natural and inclusion of anthropogenic disturbances could impact seagrass ecosystems’ ability to recover. North-West Australia is anticipated to experience significant disturbance to seagrasses through climate change due to increasing temperatures and cyclone frequency). A recent loss of 1,300 km2 of seagrass in Shark Bay due to a heatwave in 2010/11 exemplifies this. Despite the magnitude of this impact, very little is known about the resilience mechanism of seagrass in this region. It is important from a management perspective to understand these resilience mechanisms in order to: help predict the impact of a disturbance; help maintain the ecological function of the system and help prevent the resilience being exceeded and an alternative state formed. This project will examine succession patterns in the NW of WA as a resilience mechanism whilst aiming to identify possible sera and test whether facilitation could play a role in establishing this successional pattern.

Project duration

2020 - 2022

Supervisors/Researchers

Mr Samuel Billinghurst
Associate Professor Kathryn McMahon
Professor Paul Lavery

Skip to top of page