Foundations for the future: A long‐term plan for Australian ecosystem science

Australia's ecosystems are the basis of our current and future prosperity, and our national well‐being. A strong and sustainable Australian ecosystem science enterprise is vital for understanding and securing these ecosystems in the face of current and future challenges. This Plan defines the vision and key directions for a national ecosystem science capability that will enable Australia to understand and effectively manage its ecosystems for decades to come. The Plan's underlying theme is that excellent science supports a range of activities, including public engagement, that enable us to understand and maintain healthy ecosystems. Those healthy ecosystems are the cornerstone of our social and economic well‐being. The vision guiding the development of this Plan is that in 20 years' time the status of Australian ecosystems and how they change will be widely reported and understood, and the prosperity and well‐being they provide will be secure. To enable this, Australia's national ecosystem science capability will be coordinated, collaborative and connected. The Plan is based on an extensive set of collaboratively generated proposals from national town hall meetings that also form the basis for its implementation. Some directions within the Plan are for the Australian ecosystem science community itself to implement, others will involve the users of ecosystem science and the groups that fund ecosystem science. We identify six equal priority areas for action to achieve our vision: (i) delivering maximum impact for Australia: enhancing relationships between scientists and end‐users; (ii) supporting long‐term research; (iii) enabling ecosystem surveillance; (iv) making the most of data resources; (v) inspiring a generation: empowering the public with knowledge and opportunities; (vi) facilitating coordination, collaboration and leadership. This shared vision will enable us to consolidate our current successes, overcome remaining barriers and establish the foundations to ensure Australian ecosystem science delivers for the future needs of Australia.     

The value and opportunity of restoring Australia's lost rock oyster reefs

Recognizing the historical loss of habitats and the value and opportunities for their recovery is essential for mobilizing habitat restoration as a solution for managing ecosystem function. Just 200 years ago, Sydney rock oysters (Saccostrea glomerata) formed extensive reef ecosystems along Australia's temperate east coast, but a century of intensive harvest and coastal change now confines S. glomerata to encrusting the hard‐intertidal surfaces of sheltered coastal waters. Despite the lack of natural reef recovery, there appears enormous potential for the restoration of intertidal S. glomerata ecosystems across Australia's east coast, with large anticipated benefits to water quality, shoreline protection, and coastal productivity. Yet, no subtidal reefs remain and the potential for subtidal restoration is a critical knowledge gap. Here, we synthesize historical, ecological, and aquaculture literature to describe a reference system for the traits of S. glomerata reefs to inform restoration targets, and outline the barriers to, and opportunities and methods for, their restoration. These reefs support extremely biodiverse and productive communities and can ameliorate the environmental stress experienced by associated communities. Rock oyster restoration, therefore, provides an ecosystem‐based strategy for assisting the adaptation of marine biodiversity to a changing climate and intensive human encroachment. Though an estimated 92% of S. glomerata ecosystems are lost, there remains great potential to restore these valuable and resilient ecosystems.     

Predicting the likely response of data‐poor ecosystems to climate change using space‐for‐time substitution across domains

Predicting ecological response to climate change is often limited by a lack of relevant local data from which directly applicable mechanistic models can be developed. This limits predictions to qualitative assessments or simplistic rules of thumb in data‐poor regions, making management of the relevant systems difficult. We demonstrate a method for developing quantitative predictions of ecological response in data‐poor ecosystems based on a space‐for‐time substitution, using distant, well‐studied systems across an inherent climatic gradient to predict ecological response. Changes in biophysical data across the spatial gradient are used to generate quantitative hypotheses of temporal ecological responses that are then tested in a target region. Transferability of predictions among distant locations, the novel outcome of this method, is demonstrated via simple quantitative relationships that identify direct and indirect impacts of climate change on physical, chemical and ecological variables using commonly available data sources. Based on a limited subset of data, these relationships were demonstrably plausible in similar yet distant (>2000 km) ecosystems. Quantitative forecasts of ecological change based on climate‐ecosystem relationships from distant regions provides a basis for research planning and informed management decisions, especially in the many ecosystems for which there are few data. This application of gradient studies across domains – to investigate ecological response to climate change – allows for the quantification of effects on potentially numerous, interacting and complex ecosystem components and how they may vary, especially over long time periods (e.g. decades). These quantitative and integrated long‐term predictions will be of significant value to natural resource practitioners attempting to manage data‐poor ecosystems to prevent or limit the loss of ecological value. The method is likely to be applicable to many ecosystem types, providing a robust scientific basis for estimating likely impacts of future climate change in ecosystems where no such method currently exists.     

Ecological assessments with algae: a review and synthesis

Algae have been used for a century in environmental assessments of water bodies and are now used in countries around the world. This review synthesizes recent advances in the field around a framework for environmental assessment and management that can guide design of assessments, applications of phycology in assessments, and refinements of those applications to better support management decisions. Algae are critical parts of aquatic ecosystems that power food webs and biogeochemical cycling. Algae are also major sources of problems that threaten many ecosystems goods and services when abundances of nuisance and toxic taxa are high. Thus, algae can be used to indicate ecosystem goods and services, which complements how algal indicators are also used to assess levels of contaminants and habitat alterations (stressors). Understanding environmental managers' use of algal ecology, taxonomy, and physiology can guide our research and improve its application. Environmental assessments involve characterizing ecological condition and diagnosing causes and threats to ecosystems goods and services. Recent advances in characterizing condition include site‐specific models that account for natural variability among habitats to better estimate effects of humans. Relationships between algal assemblages and stressors caused by humans help diagnose stressors and establish targets for protection and restoration. Many algal responses to stressors have thresholds that are particularly important for developing stakeholder consensus for stressor management targets. Future research on the regional‐scale resilience of algal assemblages, the ecosystem goods and services they provide, and methods for monitoring and forecasting change will improve water resource management.     

A strategic plan for an Australian Long‐Term Environmental Monitoring Network

Because of the urgent need for robust, long‐term information on biodiversity loss and environmental change, we have proposed a Long‐Term (>10 years) Environmental Monitoring (LTEM) Network for Australia. The LTEM Network would comprise 25 Nodes distributed throughout Australia, be focused on terrestrial, inland aquatic and coastal estuarine ecosystems, and be established to monitor long‐term biodiversity loss and ecological change (patterns and trends). The LTEM Network would be question‐problem‐process‐driven and not infrastructure‐driven. Thus, the different Nodes in the LTEM Network would explicitly recognize different biota, different environmental problems, different environmental threats and different kinds of management interventions in different ecosystems. We provide a governance structure for the proposed LTEM Network and envisage that it would be characterized by being: (i) lean, yet powerful, agile and adaptive; (ii) both centralized (through a coordinating role by a Federal Government agency), yet decentralized in terms of where the Nodes are located and how they are operated and managed; and (iii) not overly bureaucratic. We also argue that it would be highly cost‐effective; our estimated cost for the establishment of an LTEM Network is $28 million per year or less than 0.25% of the total annual governmental expenditure of $12 billion on environmental management in 2003/2004. The LTEM Network would be a critical part of Australia's environmental infrastructure and provide the Nation, for the first time, with a formal, coordinated, long‐term Network to gauge status and change of biodiversity and environmental condition. We argue that this would allow the Nation to begin to address seriously many of the major data‐related deficiencies that currently exist in the environment and biodiversity conservation sectors in Australia.     

面向生态系统服务的森林生态系统经营:现状、挑战与展望

森林生态系统是地球陆地生态系统的主体,它具有很高的生物生产力和生物量以及丰富的生物多样性,对全球生态系统和人类经济社会发展起着至关重要和无可替代的作用。伴随着人口的不断增长和经济社会的迅猛发展,对森林资源和森林生态系统服务的需求不断高涨,而且人类对森林资源价值的认识也发生了很大程度的改变。推进森林资源可持续经营,增加森林总量、提高森林质量、增强生态功能,已成为中国林业可持续发展乃至推进中国生态文明建设和建设美丽中国的战略任务。本文全面综述了森林生态系统经营发展历程,分析了森林生态系统经营的现状和存在问题,在此基础上,提出整合基于生态系统管理与满足现代人类福祉对森林多重需求的新的森林生态系统经营理念,面向生态系统服务的森林生态系统经营理念是未来的发展趋势。森林经营发展战略表现为:1)从单纯的森林面积数量扩张,转变到提高单位面积的森林生产力和森林质量;2)从单一追求木材生产逐步转变为多目标经营,将森林林产品单一的经营目标转变为广泛的生态、经济和社会等多目标经营;3)森林经营重点从林分水平转变为森林景观的经营,强调森林景观的时空异质性和动态变化,权衡和协同多种生态系统的服务功能,倡导森林景观的多样性和连通性,提高森林与其它土地利用模式镶嵌构成的复合景观的可持续性和稳定性,增强森林生态系统对气候变化影响的适应能力;4)森林生态系统经营将从依赖传统经验的主观决策转变为信息化、数字化和智能化的决策,发展森林生态系统经营决策支持系统和森林景观恢复与空间经营规划系统。     

Monitoring attributes for ecological restoration in Latin America and the Caribbean region

Ecological restoration is becoming mainstreamed worldwide but target ecosystems' responses to restorative interventions are not sufficiently monitored, in terms of the wide range of ecological, social, and economic attributes available. In order to highlight and better understand this problem, we conducted a literature review of the ecological, social, and economic attributes cited in the scientific literature used for monitoring the success of ecological restoration projects in Latin America and the Caribbean region, where no regional study of this kind has previously been conducted. In 84 of the 91 articles retained for the study, ecological indicators were evaluated, while only seven articles included measurements of socioeconomic indicators. Regarding the Society for Ecological Restoration Primer attributes of restored ecosystems, we only found indicators measuring attributes 1–6, with attribute 1 (species assemblages) predominating (73%), followed by physical conditions (54%) and ecological functions (51%). Brazil was the country in the region where most monitoring was being carried out (51% of the articles), and tropical rainforest (33%) and tropical dry forest (25%) were the ecosystem types where ecological restoration was most frequently monitored. Highly vulnerable ecosystems such as mangroves and paramos were underrepresented. Attributes related to ecosystem stability or to governance and education of communities were not monitored at all. More real long‐term monitoring, instead of chronosequences, is needed, especially where understanding socioeconomic implications of, and barriers to, effective ecological restoration is a top priority.     

Vegetation,environment, and time: The origination and termination of ecosystems

Terrestrial ecosystems originate when particular plant species attain dominance at specific locations under specific environmental regimes. Ecosystems terminate, gradually or abruptly, when the dominant species or functional types are replaced by others, usually owing to environmental change or severe and irreversible disturbance. Assessing whether current ecosystems are sustainable in the face of future environmental change can be aided by examining the range of environmental variation those ecosystems have experienced in the past, and by determining the environmental conditions under which those ecosystems arose. The range of environmental variation depends on the time scale at which it is assessed. A narrow time span (e.g. 200–300 years) may underestimate the range of variation within which an ecosystem is sustainable, and it may also underestimate the risk of major transformation or disruption of that ecosystem by environmental change. Longer time spans (e.g. 1000–2000 years) increase the range of variation, by encompassing a larger sample of natural variability as well as non‐stationary variability in the earth system. Most modern ecosystems disappear when the time span is expanded to 10000–15 000 years owing to secular changes in earth's climate system. Paleo‐ecological records can pinpoint the time of origination of specific ecosystems, and paleo‐environmental records can reveal the specific environmental changes that led to development of those ecosystems and the range of environmental variation under which those ecosystems have maintained themselves in the past. This information can help identify critical environmental thresholds beyond which specific modern ecosystems can no longer be sustained.     

Functional traits,the phylogeny of function,and ecosystem service vulnerability

People depend on benefits provided by ecological systems. Understanding how these ecosystem services – and the ecosystem properties underpinning them – respond to drivers of change is therefore an urgent priority. We address this challenge through developing a novel risk‐assessment framework that integrates ecological and evolutionary perspectives on functional traits to determine species’ effects on ecosystems and their tolerance of environmental changes. We define Specific Effect Function (SEF) as the per‐gram or per capita capacity of a species to affect an ecosystem property, and Specific Response Function (SRF) as the ability of a species to maintain or enhance its population as the environment changes. Our risk assessment is based on the idea that the security of ecosystem services depends on how effects (SEFs) and tolerances (SRFs) of organisms – which both depend on combinations of functional traits – correlate across species and how they are arranged on the species’ phylogeny. Four extreme situations are theoretically possible, from minimum concern when SEF and SRF are neither correlated nor show a phylogenetic signal, to maximum concern when they are negatively correlated (i.e., the most important species are the least tolerant) and phylogenetically patterned (lacking independent backup). We illustrate the assessment with five case studies, involving both plant and animal examples. However, the extent to which the frequency of the four plausible outcomes, or their intermediates, apply more widely in real‐world ecological systems is an open question that needs empirical evidence, and suggests a research agenda at the interface of evolutionary biology and ecosystem ecology.     

Modelling marine community responses to climate‐driven species redistribution to guide monitoring and adaptive ecosystem‐based management

As a consequence of global climate‐driven changes, marine ecosystems are experiencing polewards redistributions of species – or range shifts – across taxa and throughout latitudes worldwide. Research on these range shifts largely focuses on understanding and predicting changes in the distribution of individual species. The ecological effects of marine range shifts on ecosystem structure and functioning, as well as human coastal communities, can be large, yet remain difficult to anticipate and manage. Here, we use qualitative modelling of system feedback to understand the cumulative impacts of multiple species shifts in south‐eastern Australia, a global hotspot for ocean warming. We identify range‐shifting species that can induce trophic cascades and affect ecosystem dynamics and productivity, and evaluate the potential effectiveness of alternative management interventions to mitigate these impacts. Our results suggest that the negative ecological impacts of multiple simultaneous range shifts generally add up. Thus, implementing whole‐of‐ecosystem management strategies and regular monitoring of range‐shifting species of ecological concern are necessary to effectively intervene against undesirable consequences of marine range shifts at the regional scale. Our study illustrates how modelling system feedback with only limited qualitative information about ecosystem structure and range‐shifting species can predict ecological consequences of multiple co‐occurring range shifts, guide ecosystem‐based adaptation to climate change and help prioritise future research and monitoring.     

Long-Term Monitoring and Evaluation of the Lower Red River Meadow Restoration Project, Idaho, U.S.A.

Although public and financial support for stream restoration projects is increasing, long‐term monitoring and reporting of project successes and failures are limited. We present the initial results of a long‐term monitoring program for the Lower Red River Meadow Restoration Project in north‐central Idaho, U.S.A. We evaluate a natural channel design’s effectiveness in shifting a degraded stream ecosystem onto a path of ecological recovery. Field monitoring and hydrodynamic modeling are used to quantify post‐restoration changes in 17 physical and biological performance indicators. Statistical and ecological significance are evaluated within a framework of clear objectives, expected responses (ecological hypotheses), and performance criteria (reference conditions) to assess post‐restoration changes away from pre‐restoration conditions. Compared to pre‐restoration conditions, we observed ecosystem improvements in channel sinuosity, slope, depth, and water surface elevation; quantity, quality, and diversity of in‐stream habitat and spawning substrate; and bird population numbers and diversity. Modeling documented the potential for enhanced river–floodplain connectivity. Failure to detect either statistically or ecologically significant change in groundwater depth, stream temperature, native riparian cover, and salmonid density is due to a combination of small sample sizes, high interannual variability, external influences, and the early stages of recovery. Unexpected decreases in native riparian cover led to implementation of adaptive management strategies. Challenges included those common to most project‐level monitoring—isolating restoration effects in complex ecosystems, securing long‐term funding, and implementing scientifically rigorous experimental designs. Continued monitoring and adaptive management that support the establishment of mature and dense riparian shrub communities are crucial to overall success of the project.     

Sustainable forest management reporting in Australia

Criteria and indicators are used in a number of sectors to assess progress towards specified goals or targets. The adoption by the Australian Government of a modified set of Montreal Process criteria and indicators to report Australia's progress towards sustainable forest management, at national and sub-national levels, has improved the ability to report comprehensively and consistently, on economic, environmental and social values. The establishment of Australia's Montreal Process Implementation Group, with members from all States and Territories representing forest conservation, production, public and private forest management, provides a strong regional ownership and guidance of the framework. The adoption of the framework by State government agencies, involved in both production and conservation forests, for reporting sustainable forest management demonstrates the framework's relevance at national and sub-national levels. A major development was the implementation, for the first time, of Australia's sustainable forest management reporting framework in Australia's State of the Forest Report 2003. The implementation process revealed issues of relevance to indicators at national and regional levels, data availability, duplication, ambiguity and gaps between some indicators. A national review of the framework is underway to improve the reporting of progress towards sustainable forest management reporting in Australia.     

Size matters in quantitative radar monitoring of animal migration: estimating monitored volume from wingbeat frequency

Quantitative radar studies are an important component of studying the movements of birds. Whether a bird, at a certain distance from the radar, is detected or not depends on its size. The volume monitored by the radar is therefore different for birds of different sizes. Consequently, an accurate quantification of bird movements recorded by small‐scale radar requires an accurate determination of the monitored volume for the objects in question, although this has tended to be ignored. Here, we demonstrate the importance of sensitivity settings for echo detection on the estimated movement intensities of birds of different sizes. The amount of energy reflected from a bird and detected by the radar receiver (echo power) depends not only on the bird's size and on the distance from the radar antenna, but also on the beam shape and the bird's position within this beam. We propose a method to estimate the size of a bird based on the wingbeat frequency, retrieved from the echo‐signal, independent of the absolute echo power. The estimated bird‐size allows calculation of size‐specific monitored volumes, allowing accurate quantification of movement intensities. We further investigate the importance of applying size‐specific monitored volumes to quantify avian movements instead of using echo counts. We also highlight the importance of accounting for size‐specific monitored volume of small scale radar systems, and the necessity of reporting technical information on radar parameters. Applying this framework will increase the quality and validity of quantitative radar monitoring.     

Role of vegetation in determining carbon sequestration along ecological succession in the southeastern United States

Vegetation plays a central role in controlling terrestrial carbon (C) exchange, but quantifying its impacts on C cycling on time scales of ecological succession is hindered by a lack of long‐term observations. The net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) was measured for several years in adjacent ecosystems that represent distinct phases of ecological succession in the southeastern USA. The experiment was designed to isolate the role of vegetation – apart from climate and soils – in controlling biosphere–atmosphere fluxes of CO₂ and water vapor. NEE was near zero over 5 years at an early successional old‐field ecosystem (OF). However, mean annual NEE was nearly equal, approximately ?450 g C m^?2 yr^?1, at an early successional planted pine forest (PP) and a late successional hardwood forest (HW) due to the sensitivity of the former to drought and ice storm damage. We hypothesize that these observations can be explained by the relationships between gross ecosystem productivity (GEP), ecosystem respiration (RE) and canopy conductance, and long‐term shifts in ecosystem physiology in response to climate to maintain near‐constant ecosystem‐level water‐use efficiency (EWUE). Data support our hypotheses, but future research should examine if GEP and RE are causally related or merely controlled by similar drivers. At successional time scales, GEP and RE observations generally followed predictions from E. P. Odum's ‘Strategy of Ecosystem Development’, with the surprising exception that the relationship between GEP and RE resulted in large NEE at the late successional HW. A practical consequence of this research suggests that plantation forestry may confer no net benefit over the conservation of mature forests for C sequestration.     

Is long‐term protection useful for the regeneration of disturbed plant communities in dry areas?

In dry areas, natural plant communities are mainly affected by climatic stress and human disturbances – overgrazing, ploughing and biomass harvesting – that accelerate their degradation. Management techniques, including creation of national parks (fencing), are needed to conserve natural resources/biodiversity. The long‐term effects of protection on the plant communities should be monitored. This study assessed the results of long‐term protection on the composition and diversity of the natural plant communities of Sidi Toui National Park (southern Tunisia) using the point‐quadrat method and ecological indicators of the ecosystem structure. Comparison of these indicators for the period 1990–2011 inside (fenced) and outside (disturbed) the Park showed that regeneration of natural vegetation increased during the first decade of the fencing period (1990–2001), but declined during the period (2008–2011). After a long period of fencing, plant tufts were bigger and aged, and the ecosystem dynamics decreased. In the absence of animal activities, the hardpan at the soil surface impedes seedling emergence. This suggests that long‐term fencing is not recommended for conserving floral diversity in dryland ecosystems. To ensure and maintain the regeneration of these ecosystems, fencing periods alternating with controlled grazing (by introducing wild herbivores) are recommended.     

面向管理目标的国家公园生态监测指标体系构建与应用

国家公园具有生态系统保护、自然资源可持续利用等管理目标,这些管理目标的实现需要大量监测数据和信息的支持。对国家公园开展生态监测有助于了解国家公园内生态系统的动态变化并揭示管理活动的影响,从而为管理决策的规划和实施提供有用信息。为推动我国国家公园生态监测体系的建立,提出了面向管理目标的国家公园生态监测指标构建方法。该方法由确定国家公园生态监测目标、识别国家公园管理目标、识别国家公园关键生态过程、确定需要监测的生态过程并制定初始监测指标清单、确定最终监测指标清单5个部分组成。该方法在三江源国家公园进行了应用。三江源国家公园的管理目标包括生态系统保育、维持江河径流量持续稳定等13项,在区域、景观、生态系统和种群尺度上共识别出16个关键生态过程。通过匹配三江源国家公园的关键生态过程与管理目标,构建了一个由两级共93个指标组成的三江源国家公园生态监测指标体系,为三江源国家公园生态监测体系的构建奠定了基础。     

陆地生态系统环境控制实验的研究方法及技术体系

生物及生态系统与环境变化间的反馈关系及其过程机制是生态学研究的重要内容。不同类型的生物环境因素控制实验以及大尺度的联网野外控制实验被认为是认识生态系统响应和适应环境变化过程机制、精细定量表达的有效手段及认知过程的加速器。近年来发展了大型野外物理模拟实验装置网络(如ECOTRON)、生态系统分析与实验平台(AnaEE)、国际干旱实验研究网络(Drought Network)、氮沉降联合实验网络(Nutrient Network),以及基于各区域性生态观测实验站的联网控制实验(如USA-ILTER)。发展大陆尺度联网实验研究平台事业正日益受到学术界的重视,将会在认知生态系统环境响应过程机制方面发挥更重要的作用。基于以上背景,本文综述了生态系统环境控制实验的研究方法和实验体系的发展,明确指出各种类型的生物环境控制实验需要形成联合协作体系,共同解决生态系统对环境变化的响应及适应的基本科学问题。目前的控制实验包括: 1) 实验室封闭装置内的生物生理生态学控制实验;2) 野外实验场的半开放部分环境要素控制实验;3) 近自然状态的野外环境控制实验;以及4) 基于野外生态站的联网控制实验。进而,本文还深入讨论了陆地生态系统的环境响应及适应过程机制实验系统设计的发展趋势,分析了基于大尺度自然环境梯度实验及生态站尺度的要素控制实验的优势,提出了整合两种实验技术、发展新一代的野外联网实验体系的科学设想,讨论了基于野外联网控制实验的研究体系,论证了研究生态系统对环境变化短期响应和长期适应的规律和机制、生态系统环境响应定量表达的技术途径。若本文提出的控制实验体系设计方案能够得以实施,必将大大促进我国乃至全球生态系统和环境变化科学的研究水平,对我国应对气候变化和生态环境建设具有重要的科学意义。     

生物多样性与生态系统服务情景模拟研究进展

生物多样性和生态系统服务情景模拟是指对未来生物多样性和生态系统服务变化轨迹的定量估计,二者相互关联并为长期、稳定的保护和恢复生态系统提供了重要科学依据。梳理生物多样性以及生态系统服务预测情景的核心观点,讨论基于生物多样性和生态系统服务情景模拟的保护决策支持途径,以期服务于我国生物多样性与生态系统服务预测研究的发展和深化。研究凝练结果如下:物种分布模型需要进行更规范的评价以明晰其对具体对象的适用性,生态系统预测模型亟待在关系结构的基础上嵌入更多的生态系统过程和社会经济过程,生态系统服务评估模型有必要强化对生物多样性、生态系统服务、人类福祉级联特征的刻画;全球气候变化驱动了未来区域生物多样性的大幅改变;土地利用则是陆地生态系统服务预测中的核心驱动变量。生态区划与区域尺度情景模拟、景观尺度下的生态安全格局构建、基于社会生态网络的社区适应三点重要展望方向将对基于情景模拟的我国生态系统保护决策提供重要的理论和实践支持。     

Rehabilitation of former Snowy Scheme sites in Kosciuszko National Park

Ten years of restoration work at 200 sites within Kosciuszko National Park – sites damaged during the construction of Australia's most iconic hydroelectric scheme – is showing substantial progress and is contributing to the protection of the park's internationally significant ecosystems.     

Resilience of Zostera muelleri seagrass to small‐scale disturbances: the relative importance of asexual versus sexual recovery

Resilience is the ability of an ecosystem to recover from disturbance without loss of essential function. Seagrass ecosystems are key marine and estuarine habitats that are under threat from a variety of natural and anthropogenic disturbances. The ability of these ecosystems to recovery from disturbance will to a large extent depend on the internsity and scale of the disturbance, and the relative importance of sexual versus asexual reproduction within populations. Here, we investigated the resilience of Zostera muelleri seagrass (Syn. Zostera capricorni) to small‐scale disturbances at four locations in Lake Macquarie – Australia's largest coastal lake – and monitored recovery over a 65‐week period. Resilience of Z. muelleri varied significantly with disturbance intensity; Z. muelleri recovered rapidly (within 2 weeks) from low‐intensity disturbance (shoot loss), and rates of recovery appeared related to initial shoot length. Recovery via rhizome encroachment (asexual regeneration) from high‐intensity disturbance (loss of entire plant) varied among locations, ranging from 18‐35 weeks, whereas the ability to recover was apparently lost (at least within the time frame of this study) when recovery depended on sexual regeneration, suggesting that seeds do not provide a mechanism of recovery against intense small‐scale disturbances. The lack of sexual recruits into disturbed sites is surprising as our initial surveys of genotypic diversity (using nine polymorphic microsatellite loci) at these location indicate that populations are maintained by a mix of sexual and asexual reproduction (genotypic diversity [R] varied from 0.24 to 0.44), and populations consisted of a mosaic of genotypes with on average 3.6 unique multilocus genotypes per 300 mm diameter plot. We therefore conclude that Z. muelleri populations within Lake Macquarie rely on clonal growth to recover from small‐scale disturbances and that ongoing sexual recruitment by seeds into established seagrass beds (as opposed to bare areas arising from disturbance) must be the mechanism responsible for maintaining the observed mixed genetic composition of Z. muelleri seagrass meadows.