Study aims to help seagrass survive harbour dredging

UTS researchers are assessing the degree to which reduced light caused by dredging will affect seagrass and the marine life that relies upon it in Queensland's Gladstone Harbour. 

There are concerns the dredging, planned to start in June, will produce turbidity creating a yellow light environment which could impact the seagrasses' process of photosynthesis.

Head researcher Katherina Petrou said the aim of the project was to produce predictive models and dredging strategies to minimise the damaging impact on the seagrasses.

Katherina Petrou, picture by Ross Hill

"Understanding ability of seagrass to respond to changes in water quality and light will help us predict the tolerance seagrasses have and their ability to recover from disturbances in the future," Ms Petrou said.

"If dredging takes place without consideration, inhabitants of the area including turtles, dugongs and fish species will be forced out of their natural habitat or will starve.

"The research will provide us with information that is critical to our understanding of how further pressures, such as large scale developments, may impact local marine habitat elsewhere.

"It is important to maintain the quality of the water through periods of dredging, so that existing environmental values including ecosystem maintenance and marine biodiversity are protected."

Core research partner, UTS Professor Peter Ralph, said the team was trying to determine if added disturbance to a naturally turbid river would push an ecosystem over the edge or if it would adapt.

"We are conducting an experiment here at UTS to analyse changes in seagrass pigmentation through high performance liquid chromatography," Professor Ralph said.