2021 State of the Environment Report Marine Chapter – Expert Assessment – State and Trend – Sea snakes

Brief description

The Marine chapter of the 2021 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "State and Trend of Sea Snakes".
***A PDF of the full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided) is downloadable in the "On-line Resources" section of this record as "EXPERT ASSESSMENT 2021 - State and Trend – Sea Snakes"***

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DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES/COMMUNITY FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT
Sea snakes occur in a variety of shallow-water marine habitats in northern Australia, including estuaries, coral reefs, soft-sediment habitats, and seagrass meadows (Rasmussen et al. 2014). These species have a completely marine lifecycle and are highly susceptible to climate change, habitat degradation and bycatch within Australian coastal trawl fisheries. Australia has approximately ~32 sea snake species, including 13 endemic species. Two endemic species are listed as Critically Endangered under the EPBC Act and IUCN Red List, a further two endemics listed as Endangered and Near Threatened by IUCN have not been assessed under the EPBC Act (Elfes et al. 2013). A recent Red List re-assessment of Australian sea snake species (currently in review) has downgraded the two ‘Critically Endangered’ species to ‘Data Deficient’ based on expanded area of occupancy based on new sightings outside previously recognised ranges, and a lack of population trend information in the new locations.

DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT
Data primarily collected from past IUCN assessments, reports and publications by Reef Life Survey, Vinay Udyawer, Michael Guinea, and Kate Sanders.

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2021 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details]

• 2021 •
Assessment grade: Very poor
Assessment trend: Deteriorating
Confidence grade: Adequate high-quality evidence and high level of consensus
Confidence trend: Adequate high-quality evidence and high level of consensus
Comparability: Grade and trend are comparable to the 2016 assessment
• 2016 •
Assessment grade: Very poor
Assessment trend: Deteriorating
Confidence grade: Adequate high-quality evidence and high level of consensus
Confidence trend: Adequate high-quality evidence and high level of consensus
Comparability: Grade and trend are comparable to the 2011 assessment

• 2011 •
Assessment grade: Very poor
Assessment trend: Deteriorating
Confidence grade: Adequate high-quality evidence and high level of consensus
Confidence trend: Adequate high-quality evidence and high level of consensus

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CHANGES SINCE 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT
Largely agrees with 2016 SOE assessment.

Lineage

Statement: QUALITY OF DATA USED IN THE ASSESSMENT
Varies between species but incorporates the most recent and up to date information available for all Australian species of sea snakes.

Notes

Credit
Peer reviews of this assessment were provided by: Kate Sanders (University of Adelaide)