Locations and health of beachcast fragments of Posidonia in Botany Bay (NESP MaC 1.8)

Efforts to restore Posidonia seagrass meadows in NSW are reliant on collecting beachcast fragments as collection of donor material from extant beds is prohibited. However, to maximise the collection efforts it necessary to understand where to collect fragments from and what environmental conditions (e.g. wind direction, wind strength, tidal height) increase the availability of fragments and where to collect the most healthy fragments. This data set captures the abundance of fragments at 7 sites in Gamay (Botany Bay), an area of interest for restoration of Posidonia australis. It investigates how characteristics of wind (speed and direction), tidal height and swell (height, direction) influence the availability (abundance) and health (as determined by observations of necrosis) of shoots at sites throughout Botany Bay. The Excel data workbook is comprised of two sheets: Fragments_data sheet shows the number of P. australis fragments collected at different sites, when they were collected, and the environmental conditions at collection (see data attributes section). Shoot_data sheet shows the proportion of necrosis of shoots attached to collected fragments.