Linking seagrass restoration and replanting to the biology of seagrass survival and growth.

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Seagrasses form the basis of productive nearshore marine ecosystems in Australia but major losses have occurred due to coastal development and pollution. Recently, it has been proposed to restore seagrass habitats by transplanting meadow-forming seagrasses. These species are, however, large and slow growing, and rehabiltation programs have been limited and costly. This project will study and model the growth of both natural and transplanted populations of selected seagrasses, with the aims of optimising the selection of sites, species and planting design, and of developing realistic performance criteria for growth of planted units. The long term goal is to develop broadscale mechanical planting.