36 min
Power in numbers (PART 2): The trials and tribulations of seagrass restoration in Australia. OzCast
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- Natural Sciences
PART 2:
In this episode of OzCast, Professor Kendrick unveils the crucial role that seagrass plays in marine and terrestrial ecosystems, shedding light on its remarkable ability to support marine life and store blue carbon, even more effectively than tropical rainforests. With over 40 years of professional experience in the restoration of these marine ecosystems, Professor Kendrick dives beneath the surface on all the trials and tribulations of bringing these lost meadows back to their former glory – from small-scale projects, all the way to industry-leading community-led projects like Seeds For Snapper.
Professor Gary Kendrick is a leading marine ecologist in the areas of marine benthic biodiversity, resource mapping, seagrass and seaweed ecology and seagrass restoration. He has worked with government and industry to determine needs and develop solutions for climate change threats as well as environmental and conservation issues in Australia’s exclusive economic zone.
He has successfully led numerous interdisciplinary teams to address gaps in our knowledge by mapping benthic resources in the shallow continental shelf around Australia and in studying the environmental impacts on seagrasses and seaweeds of commercial fishing, oil and gas infrastructure, dredging, coastal development, coastal eutrophication and desalination outfalls.
Throughout the podcast, Gary discusses the idea of awareness: of not just when seagrass was recognised as being lost in Australia, but the awareness of how important it is to both animals and humans. He provides anecdotes on the types of ways we used seagrass, which ultimately led to its decline over the last 240 years. According to Gary, we are losing one football field of seagrass every 30 minutes, globally.
Drawing from his extensive travels, he compares Australia's efforts on the international stage, giving us a comprehensive overview of where we stand globally in seagrass preservation. He explores the major international policies that have shaped seagrass protection in Australia, highlighting the ongoing work needed to secure seagrass ecosystems in international law.
His seagrass restoration work previously focused on technical solutions and developments to improve the restoration success of seagrasses. More recently, however, his emphasis has shifted to working with the community to develop restoration at larger scales. He presently works on supporting the large OzFish community program, Seeds for Snapper, which is a collaboration with the University of Western Australia that is scaling up seagrass restoration from 100m2 to hectares using seeds of the seagrass Posidonia australis.
Professor Kendrick emphasises the power of community involvement in seagrass restoration. Learn why he believes that programs like "Seeds For Snapper" are not just for experts but something everyone should engage in, emphasising the collective responsibility we all share in preserving these invaluable ecosystems.
With years spent swimming amid these submerged meadows, Gary shares how he endeavours to quantify the value of a square meter of seagrass, unveiling a surprising truth that challenges our preconceptions. He delves into the methods that work and those that don't. It’s a percentage game and he explains why restoring even 10% of seagrass seeds is a monumental achievement in the world of conservation.
Gary’s long-term research goal is to develop a predictive framework for understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics between marine species distributions, their biology and the physical environment. His work on this has identified appropriate descriptors of extensive historical losses of seagrass habitat due to human impacts and modelled emergent landscape-scale phenomena related to the clonal growth of seagrasses at the shoot scale and the evolution of seagrass landscapes. This line of research has led him to question our understanding of
PART 2:
In this episode of OzCast, Professor Kendrick unveils the crucial role that seagrass plays in marine and terrestrial ecosystems, shedding light on its remarkable ability to support marine life and store blue carbon, even more effectively than tropical rainforests. With over 40 years of professional experience in the restoration of these marine ecosystems, Professor Kendrick dives beneath the surface on all the trials and tribulations of bringing these lost meadows back to their former glory – from small-scale projects, all the way to industry-leading community-led projects like Seeds For Snapper.
Professor Gary Kendrick is a leading marine ecologist in the areas of marine benthic biodiversity, resource mapping, seagrass and seaweed ecology and seagrass restoration. He has worked with government and industry to determine needs and develop solutions for climate change threats as well as environmental and conservation issues in Australia’s exclusive economic zone.
He has successfully led numerous interdisciplinary teams to address gaps in our knowledge by mapping benthic resources in the shallow continental shelf around Australia and in studying the environmental impacts on seagrasses and seaweeds of commercial fishing, oil and gas infrastructure, dredging, coastal development, coastal eutrophication and desalination outfalls.
Throughout the podcast, Gary discusses the idea of awareness: of not just when seagrass was recognised as being lost in Australia, but the awareness of how important it is to both animals and humans. He provides anecdotes on the types of ways we used seagrass, which ultimately led to its decline over the last 240 years. According to Gary, we are losing one football field of seagrass every 30 minutes, globally.
Drawing from his extensive travels, he compares Australia's efforts on the international stage, giving us a comprehensive overview of where we stand globally in seagrass preservation. He explores the major international policies that have shaped seagrass protection in Australia, highlighting the ongoing work needed to secure seagrass ecosystems in international law.
His seagrass restoration work previously focused on technical solutions and developments to improve the restoration success of seagrasses. More recently, however, his emphasis has shifted to working with the community to develop restoration at larger scales. He presently works on supporting the large OzFish community program, Seeds for Snapper, which is a collaboration with the University of Western Australia that is scaling up seagrass restoration from 100m2 to hectares using seeds of the seagrass Posidonia australis.
Professor Kendrick emphasises the power of community involvement in seagrass restoration. Learn why he believes that programs like "Seeds For Snapper" are not just for experts but something everyone should engage in, emphasising the collective responsibility we all share in preserving these invaluable ecosystems.
With years spent swimming amid these submerged meadows, Gary shares how he endeavours to quantify the value of a square meter of seagrass, unveiling a surprising truth that challenges our preconceptions. He delves into the methods that work and those that don't. It’s a percentage game and he explains why restoring even 10% of seagrass seeds is a monumental achievement in the world of conservation.
Gary’s long-term research goal is to develop a predictive framework for understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics between marine species distributions, their biology and the physical environment. His work on this has identified appropriate descriptors of extensive historical losses of seagrass habitat due to human impacts and modelled emergent landscape-scale phenomena related to the clonal growth of seagrasses at the shoot scale and the evolution of seagrass landscapes. This line of research has led him to question our understanding of
36 min