Tropical fast-growing seagrasses form mixed species meadows and constitute key forage habitats for dugongs. Sexual reproduction in fast-growing seagrasses can contribute to long-term resilience in response to environmental stress. Conducted in the Shark Bay and Ningaloo Reef World Heritage Areas, and the Exmouth Gulf, this project aims to establish how sexual reproduction contributes to resilience in dugong forage habitats, and to investigate how abiotic (temperature and light) and biotic (dugong grazing) interact with processes of sexual reproduction across seagrass life cycles, under contemporary and future projected climates.

PhD thesis topic: Sexual reproduction and resilience in Western Australia’s mid-west dugong forage habitats

Email: kristy.brown@research.uwa.edu.au

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