Michael has been conducting research on topical marine habitats focusing on seagrass ecology for over 26 years. He heads the Seagrass Ecology Lab based in JCU's Cairns campus. He has a BSc in Zoology & Ecology and an Honours degree from Flinders University and was awarded a PhD from JCU for research investigating recovery and succession in tropical seagrass communities. Michael's passion is finding science based solutions to apply in the management of marine habitats. He has built a team whose work focuses on coastal development and risk and has significantly impacted on the way seagrass and marine habitats are managed and protected. Results of his work not only lead to advances in the field of seagrass ecology, but have changed practices within coastal development, ports and shipping industries and improved the ability of regulators and managers to protect marine habitats.

Interests

Research

• Ecosystem valuation of marine habitats
• Monitoring and mapping of tropical marine habitats including coral, seagrass, mangroves and benthic communities
• Dugong and Green Turtle interactions with tropical seagrasses
• Seagrass assessment & monitoring in Queensland Ports– industry partnerships in high risk areas
• Developing spatial tools to manage sensitive habitats at high risk from shipping in GBR and Torres Strait Shipping Lanes
• Establishing the drivers of tropical seagrass change
• Investigations of seagrass resilience and reproduction
• Developing ecologically based triggers for the management of tropical seagrass communities
• Community partnerships for seagrass research in the Torres Strait
• Blue Carbon habitats in the tropics
• Developing sub-lethal tools for assessing seagrass stress
• The effects of climate on tropical seagrass communities

Experience

• 1994 to 2012 - Principal Scientist, Queensland Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (Northern Fisheries Centre, Cairns)

Research Disciplines

• Ecology (3103)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Scott A, York P and Rasheed M (2021) Spatial and temporal patterns in macroherbivore grazing in a multi-species tropical seagrass meadow of the Great Barrier Reef. Diversity, 13 (1), Article: 12, DOI:10.3390/d13010012.
• Collier C, Carter A, Rasheed M, McKenzie L, Udy J, Coles R, Brodie J, Waycott M, O’Brien K, Saunders M, Adams M, Martin K, Honchin C, Petus C and Lawrence E (2020) An evidence-based approach for setting desired state in a complex Great Barrier Reef seagrass ecosystem: a case study from Cleveland Bay. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 7, Article: 100042, DOI:10.1016/j.indic.2020.100042.
• Hayes M, McClure E, York P, Jinks K, Rasheed M, Sheaves M and Connolly R (2020) The differential importance of deep and shallow seagrass to Nekton assemblages of The Great Barrier Reef. Diversity, 12 (8), Article: 292, DOI:10.3390/d12080292.
• Hoffmann L, Edwards W, York P and Rasheed M (2020) Richness of primary producers and consumer abundance mediate epiphyte loads in a tropical seagrass system. Diversity, 12 (10), Article: 384, DOI:10.3390/d12100384.
• Jinks K, Rasheed M, Brown C, Olds A, Schlacher T, Sheaves M, York P and Connolly R (2020) Saltmarsh grass supports fishery food webs in subtropical Australian estuaries. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 238, Article: 106719, DOI:10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106719.
• Ricart A, York P, Bryant C, Rasheed M, Ierodiaconou D and Macreadie P (2020) High variability of Blue Carbon storage in seagrass meadows at the estuary scale. Scientific Reports, 10, Article: 5865, DOI:10.1038/s41598-020-62639-y.
• Scott A, York P and Rasheed M (in press) Herbivory has a major influence on structure and condition of a Great Barrier Reef subtropical seagrass meadow. Estuaries and Coasts, , DOI:10.1007/s12237-020-00868-0.
• Scott A, York P and Rasheed M (2020) Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) grazing plot formation creates structural changes in a multi-species Great Barrier Reef seagrass meadow. Marine Environmental Research, 162, Article: 105183, DOI:10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.105183.
• Tan Y, Dalby O, Kendrick G, Statton J, Sinclair E, Fraser M, Macreadie P, Gillies C, Coleman R, Waycott M, van Dijk K, Vergés A, Ross J, Campbell M, Matheson F, Jackson E, Irving A, Govers L, Connolly R, McLeod I, Rasheed M, Kirkman H, Flindt M, Lange T, Miller A and Sherman C (2020) Seagrass restoration is possible: insights and lessons from Australia and New Zealand. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, Article: 617, DOI:10.3389/fmars.2020.00617.
• Whalan M, Whippo R, Stachowicz J, York P, Aiello E, Alcoverro T, Altieri A, Bertolini C, Benedetti-Cecchi L, Bresch M, Bulleri F, Carnell P, Cimon S, Connolly R, Cusson M, Diskin M, D'Souza E, Flores A, Fodrie F, Galloway A, Gaskins L, Graham O, Hanley T, Henderson C, Hereu C, Hessing-Lewis M, Hovel K, Hughes B, Hughes A, Hultgren K, Jänes H, Janiak D, Johnston L, Jorgensen P, Kelaher B, Kruschel C, Lanham B, Lee K, Lefcheck J, Lozano-Álvarez E, Macreadie P, Monteith Z, O'Connor N, Olds A, O'Leary J, Patrick C, Pino O, Poore A, Rasheed M, Raymond W, Reiss K, Rhoades O, Robinson M, Ross P, Rossi F, Schlacher T, Seemann J, Silliman B, Smee D, Thiel M, Unsworth R, van Tussenbroek B, Vergés A, Yeager M, Yednock B, Ziegler S and Duffy J (2020) Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117 (45), pp. 28160-28166, DOI:10.1073/pnas.2005255117.
• Jinks K, Brown C, Rasheed M, Scott A, Sheaves M, York P and Connolly R (2019) Habitat complexity influences the structure of food webs in Great Barrier Reef seagrass meadows. Ecosphere, 10 (11), Article: e02928, DOI:10.1002/ecs2.2928.
• Wu P, Mengersen K, Caley M, McMahon K, Rasheed M and Kendrick G (2019) Analysing the dynamics and relative influence of variables affecting ecosystem responses using functional PCA and boosted regression trees: a seagrass case study. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10 (10), pp. 1723-1733, DOI:10.1111/2041-210X.13269.

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ResearchOnline@JCU stores 203+ research outputs authored by Dr Michael Rasheed from 1992 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Understanding Recovery Processes of Tropical Seagrasses of the Great Barrier Reef (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Identifying Thematic Groups of Natural World Heritage Properties to inform the Climate Vulnerability Index (Masters , Secondary Advisor)
• Factors driving Chelonia mydas (green sea turtle) interactions with seagrass meadows within coastal foraging habitats (Masters , Primary Advisor)

Completed

• The role of herbivores as ecosystem engineers in Great Barrier Reef seagrass meadows (2021, PhD , Primary Advisor)

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit Research Data Australia.

• Hoffmann, L. (2020) Richness of primary producers and consumer abundance mediate epiphyte loads in a tropical seagrass system. James Cook University
• Scott, A. (2020) Green Island seagrass megaherbivore exclusion data 2017. James Cook University

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.