Description: Mangrove ecosystems across the globe face degradation due to severe climatic events, resulting in the formation of standing dead stems known as 'ghost forests'. This research project aimed to characterise the environmental parameters within mangrove ghost forests but also to ascertain their potential to support seagrass survival. Data was collected in three habitats (mangrove ghost forests, live mangroves and seagrass) at each of six study sites within Moreton Bay (Quandamooka), Queensland. Field data collection encompassed variables including air temperature, sea temperature, sediment grain composition, canopy coverage, turbidity, fetch length, and wave height (from north, north-east, and south-east directions). Additionally, within the ghost forests and live mangrove plots, data were gathered regarding stem density, diameter at breast height, the presence of seagrass wrack, presence of seagrass, the extent of seagrass coverage, and the specific species of seagrass. For the seagrass transects, data were gathered on seagrass presence, coverage, and species composition. The data collection process entailed three replicate plots within both the ghost forests and live mangrove forests, along with three replicate transects measuring 50 meters each within the seagrass meadows. This dataset shows that seagrass has colonised mangrove ghost forests and may be used to better characterise conditions within ghost forests. Data may be of interest to researchers in marine science, wetland ecology or restoration.

Description: Seagrass meadows play a significant role in the formation of carbonate sediments, serving as a substrate for carbonate-producing epiphyte communities. The magnitude of the epiphyte load depends on plant structural and physiological parameters, related to the time available for epiphyte colonization. Yet, the carbonate accumulation is likely to also depend on the carbonate saturation state of seawater (Omega) that tends to decrease as latitude increases due to decreasing temperature and salinity. A decrease in carbonate accumulation with increasing latitude has already been demonstrated for other carbonate producing communities. The aim of this study was to assess whether there was any correlation between latitude and the epiphyte carbonate load and net carbonate production rate on seagrass leaves. Shoots from 8 different meadows of the Zostera genus distributed across a broad latitudinal range (27 °S to up to 64 °N) were sampled along with measurements of temperature and Omega. The Omega within meadows significantly decreased as latitude increased and temperature decreased. The mean carbonate content and load on seagrass leaves ranged from 17 % DW to 36 % DW and 0.4-2.3 mg CO3/cm**2, respectively, and the associated mean carbonate net production rate varied from 0.007 to 0.9 mg CO3/cm**2/d. Mean carbonate load and net production rates decreased from subtropical and tropical, warmer regions towards subpolar latitudes, consistent with the decrease in Omega. These results point to a latitudinal variation in the contribution of seagrass to the accumulation of carbonates in their sediments which affect important processes occurring in seagrass meadows, such as nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration and sediment accretion.

Description: Mangroves are nature-based solutions for coastal protection however their ability to attenuate waves and stabilise and accrete sediment varies with their species-specific frontal area. Hydrodynamic models are typically used to predict and assess the protection afforded by mangroves, modelling them via a drag coefficient or as rigid cylinders on increasingly larger spatial scales. However, the results can significantly differ from reality without information of the distribution of mangrove species and/or genera. Data identifying the spatial distribution of the frontal species and/or genera of mangroves exposed to waves and tides can provide information that can be used in hydrodynamic models to more accurately forecast the protection benefit provided by mangroves. Globally, frontal species/genera were identified from existing mangrove zonation diagrams and assigned to each of the Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW) to create the first global map of the distribution of frontal mangrove species/genera. This dataset aims to improve the accuracy of hydrodynamic models predicting the coastal protection provided by mangroves. Data may be of interest to researchers in coastal engineering, marine science, wetland ecology and blue carbon.