Keeping you up to date with Project Seagrass news and views with a mixture of field notes and commentary on seagrass and marine conservation topics.
For approximately 3,000 years, generations of green sea turtles have returned to the same seagrass meadows to eat. This was discovered by Willemien de Kock, a historical ecologist at the University of Groningen, by combining modern data with archaeological findings. Sea turtles migrate between specific breeding places and eating places
Discussions of valuable but threatened ocean ecosystems often focus on coral reefs or coastal mangrove forests. Seagrass meadows get a lot less attention, even though they provide wide-ranging services to society and store lots of climate-warming carbon. But the findings of a new University of Michigan-led study show that seagrass
Mangroves are growing in areas historically dominated by salt marshes and oyster reefs. Invasive pacific oysters are replacing native blue mussels in the Wadden Sea. Macroalgae are exhibiting dominance over hard corals in the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. Climate change-driven shifts in dominant, habitat-forming species such as these can have significant
Seagrass, a group of aquatic angiosperms, grows in shallow waters in the coastal sea and contributes most of the primary production while participating in many important ecological processes. Heat stress threatens the survival of seagrass, but its damage mechanisms are unclear. Recently, a research team led by Prof. Liu Jianguo
A study of eelgrass meadows planted by researchers from the University of Gothenburg shows that fauna return rapidly once the eelgrass has started to grow. Already after the second summer, the biodiversity in the planted meadow was almost the same as in old established eelgrass meadows. Eelgrass meadows have declined
In Florida alone, thousands of acres of marine seagrass beds have died. Major seagrass die-offs also are occurring around the world. Stressors such as high temperature, hypersalinity and hypoxia or lack of oxygen affect seagrasses’ ability to resist and recover from these stressor-related mortality events or when disturbances lead to
By Emily Yates To donate to our Aviva Community Funds and find out more, click the links below: Making marine conservation more accessible Saving the worlds seagrass Developing the Project Seagrass nursery
Storm Garry March 1st marked an important date in seagrass history as globally we celebrated the very first World Seagrass Day, formally recognised by the United Nations! This day will continue to annually raise awareness of the importance of healthy seagrass meadows. Seagrass is the only marine flowering plant in
An invasive species of seagrass has been on a steady march across the world, taking over ecosystems well beyond its native waters of the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. Scientists have long wondered when it would reach the waters off the coast of Florida. Florida International University scientists
Restoration Forth aims to restore seagrass meadows and native oysters into the Firth of Forth, to create a healthier coastline for people and nature. Find out more about the project here. Restoration Forth August Fieldwork | Seagrass highlights from Orkney The seagrass team are not long back from Orkney, where
Read our fieldwork notes from our summer seagrass seed collection: North Wales Seed Collection A brilliant start to our annual seed collections, with summer finally arriving right on time! The weather has been fantastic, with underwater visibility not too far off 10m, and not a drop of rain so far…
Seagrass meadows are essential for the health of our oceans. They provide vital habitats for marine life, improve water quality, and store significant amounts of carbon. Unfortunately, these vital ecosystems are in decline. Here at Project Seagrass, we are on a mission to restore seagrass meadows to help create a
Scientists from The University of Western Australia have partnered with Indigenous rangers on a seagrass restoration project in Gathaagudu (Shark Bay) to help moderate climate change and conserve biodiversity. Dr. Elizabeth Sinclair and Professor Gary Kendrick, from UWA’s School of Biological Sciences and Oceans Institute, were co-authors of the paper published in Ocean
An international team of researchers discovered that coastal urban seagrass ecosystems can significantly reduce human bacterial pathogens, including those with widespread antibiotic resistance, in marine bivalves—a vital food source for people around the world. The study, published Aug 2 in the journal Nature Sustainability, sheds light on the significant role seagrass meadows play
