Results and discussion The following results and discussion section provides detail on the overall climate, environmental pressures and seagrass responses for the 2016–17 monitoring period, in context of longer-term trends. It is structured as: Great Barrier Reef-wide summary: overall Great Barrier Reef-wide trends and trends for each habitat type represented separately a chapter on each NRM region starting with the most northern, Cape York Case study: Assessing the effects of light and temperature on seagrass abundance Each section (aside from the case studies) contains data on environmental pressures as well as the indicators that are used for calculating the report card score, or data that may be included in the report card in the future: A summary of the key findings from the overall section including a summary of the report card score Climate, river discharge and flood plume exposure Within-canopy light Within-canopy temperature threshold exceedance Seagrass abundance and extent Seagrass species composition based on life history traits Seagrass reproductive effort and seed banks Seagrass leaf tissue content (C:N, N:P and C:P ratios) Epiphyte and macroalgae abundance Seagrass meadows sediment characteristics Findings from other seagrass monitoring programs (e.g. QPSMP) Report card score The following supporting data, identified as important in understanding the Results and discussion sections (including any long-term trends), is detailed within Appendix 4: Climate (monthly rainfall and monthly 3pm wind speed) relevant to each monitoring location Annual daytime tidal exposure at each monitoring site Daily within canopy seawater temperature at each monitoring site Daily light each monitoring location Sediment grain size composition at each monitoring site Epiphyte and macroalgae abundance at each monitoring site Meadow extent within each monitoring site (5.5 ha) Location and seagrass species composition at each monitoring site Seagrass leaf tissue nutrient C:N, C:P, and N:P at each monitoring location Seagrass leaf tissue nutrient isotopic signature (13C, 15N) concentrations, for each species at each monitoring habitat within each NRM region Tables detailing statistical analysis
Results and discussion The following results and discussion section provides detail on the overall climate, environmental pressures and seagrass responses for the 2016–17 monitoring period, in context of longer-term trends. It is structured as: Great Barrier Reef-wide summary: overall Great Barrier Reef-wide trends and trends for each habitat type represented separately a chapter on each NRM region starting with the most northern, Cape York Case study: Assessing the effects of light and temperature on seagrass abundance Each section (aside from the case studies) contains data on environmental pressures as well as the indicators that are used for calculating the report card score, or data that may be included in the report card in the future: A summary of the key findings from the overall section including a summary of the report card score Climate, river discharge and flood plume exposure Within-canopy light Within-canopy temperature threshold exceedance Seagrass abundance and extent Seagrass species composition based on life history traits Seagrass reproductive effort and seed banks Seagrass leaf tissue content (C:N, N:P and C:P ratios) Epiphyte and macroalgae abundance Seagrass meadows sediment characteristics Findings from other seagrass monitoring programs (e.g. QPSMP) Report card score The following supporting data, identified as important in understanding the Results and discussion sections (including any long-term trends), is detailed within Appendix 4: Climate (monthly rainfall and monthly 3pm wind speed) relevant to each monitoring location Annual daytime tidal exposure at each monitoring site Daily within canopy seawater temperature at each monitoring site Daily light each monitoring location Sediment grain size composition at each monitoring site Epiphyte and macroalgae abundance at each monitoring site Meadow extent within each monitoring site (5.5 ha) Location and seagrass species composition at each monitoring site Seagrass leaf tissue nutrient C:N, C:P, and N:P at each monitoring location Seagrass leaf tissue nutrient isotopic signature (13C, 15N) concentrations, for each species at each monitoring habitat within each NRM region Tables detailing statistical analysis