In the first comprehensive global analysis of seagrass meadows, an international team of scientists warns that accelerating losses of seagrasses across the globe threaten the immediate health and long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems. The team, which includes Drs. Tim Carruthers and Bill Dennison of the UMCES Integration and Application Network, found that 58 percent of the world’s seagrass meadows are currently declining.
Researchers say the combination of growing urban centers, artificially hardened shorelines and declining natural resources has pushed coastal ecosystems out of balance. Globally, a seagrass meadow the size of a soccer field is lost every thirty minutes. And that rate is accelerating: annual losses have grown from less than 1 percent before 1940 to 7 percent since 1990.
Based on more than 215 studies and 1,800 observations dating back to 1879, the assessment shows that seagrass meadows are disappearing at rates similar to coral reefs and tropical rainforests. Seagrass meadows serve as a key coastal habitat that is responsible for improving water quality as well as a refuge for juvenile fish and crabs.
Read about the assessment in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
