For the first time, a study has quantified just how important seagrass is in supporting global fisheries’ productivity. The study, published in Conservation Letters Open Access by researchers led by Dr. Richard Unsworth at Swansea University, Wales, shows that a fifth of the [...]
In recent years climatologists have begun to more clearly understand the role seagrass meadows play in storing carbon, with some seagrass meadows being able to capture more carbon per acre than the tropical rain forest. Sadly, ocean warming can lead to severe damage to seagrass meadows. In [...]
In some interesting research, a UC Davis research team has concluded that planting multiple species of Seagrass during reef restoration efforts can actually improve restorative conditions for reefs all around the world! “Seagrass beds are important habitats for fisheries species, for protecting [...]
It is no surprise to anyone that knows anything about marine biology that seagrass meadows are important habitats. It seems, though, that researchers must demonstrate to governments and policy makers that seagrass meadows are important for their economic value in order to protect [...]
It may spoil the image of fine sand and clear waters, but seagrasses are remarkably important. Not only do these unusual plants protect coastlines from erosion and provide refuges for fish and invertebrates, but it turns out they are astoundingly good at locking up carbon, and they’ve [...]
Seagrasses are fascinating. They’re one of the few ‘higher’ plants, as the text books used to call them, that have adapted through evolution to an entirely marine existence. Pretty much everything else you see underwater from the plant kingdom is macroalgae. Here are some pics of [...]
Reefs are made by corals, right? Well, not always – there are many ways to build a reef. Sometimes the construction work is carried out by tube-dwelling worms in the cold waters off Europe, or, in the case of these pics, the reefs are created by a complex mix of calcium-depositing [...]
Anyone who has ever dived or snorkeled over a seagrass bed knows just how captivatingly attractive these habitats can be. In a recent study published in Science, researchers from Cornell University’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future have provided evidence that seagrass meadows [...]