Seagrass meadow restoration trial using transplants in Cockburn Sound, Western Australia. Cockburn Sound is a natural embayment approximately 16 km long and 7 km wide, to the west of the southern end of the Perth metropolitan area. Its seagrass meadows have been reduced in area by 77% since 1967, largely due to the effects of eutrophication, industrial development and sand mining. The project involved transplant trials, monitoring the impact and recovery of the donor site, and an assessment of genetic diversity in the transplant site. The trial demonstrated that the transplants achieved a high level of establishment within a few years; the high genetic diversity in the donor site was captured and retained in the restored meadow; and surrounding sandy substrate is being colonised by P. australis through regrowth from the matte and natural recruitment from seeds dispersed within and/or from other meadows, (the latter potentially helping to ensure the long-term viability of restored seagrass meadows.)

Seagrass

Method: Hybrid, Planting: rhizome fragments

Seagrass species: Posidonia australis

Planting density: 1/0.5m2

Hybrid structure: Purpose-designed degradable wire staples

Hybrid structure length (m): 0.3