Station Beach Seagrass meadows: did you know?

The seagrass meadows at Station Beach consist of Posidonia australis, Zostera capricorni, Halophila ovalis and unvegetated soft-sediments. Northern Beach Council commissioned Cardno (NSW/ACT) to prepare a Review of Environmental Factors (REF) for the proposed off-leash area trial at Station Beach. The REF notes that the areal cover of seagrass off Station Beach is 890,648sqm and is the largest continuous bed of seagrass in Pittwater. It represents 47% of all seagrass species in Pittwater. What this means is the trial area falls within the Type 1 highly sensitive key fish habitat of NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Habitat Management Guideline. In NSW, Posidonia australis is listed as an endangered population in Pittwater under the NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994. Nationally, the Posidonia australis in the Pittwater estuary is specifically included under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. In general, seagrass meadows are prone to disturbances that cause loss and fragmentation of habitat, such as disease (den Hartog 1987); feeding activities by animals (Hovel and Lipcius 2001); and storms (Preen et al. 1995).

Click here: NSW Department of Primary Industries: Endangered populations in NSW: Posidonia australis report