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.
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
Eva Rothausler On a narrow stretch along the northern-central coast of Chile, the seagrass Heterozostera nigricaulis (syn. Zostera nigricaulis, Heterozostera tasmanica) occurs in three isolated patches no more than 300 km apart. It is a common intertidal to subtidal seagrass in the Zosteracea family and is found growing in protected
During the 2021-22 academic year Project Seagrass welcomed Lowri O’Neill to undertake an internship. In our Q&A, Lowri shares her experiences of her internship with Project Seagrass and discusses what she has gone on to do next. Who/What inspired you to apply for an internship at Project Seagrass? My lecturer,
Seagrass meadows and their elusive inhabitants, dugongs, are under threat across Asia. To tackle this, conservation experts, policymakers, and researchers from across the region gathered in Bangkok in February 2025 for the First Asian Regional Dialogue on Seagrass and Dugong Conservation. The goal? To find real, actionable solutions to the challenges
Between the 8th and 10th April 2025, Project Seagrass will join other scientists and conservation professionals in Arcachon, France for the 2nd European Seagrass Restoration Workshop. Hosted by The Seagrass Consortium the workshop follows on from the inaugural workshop held in Portinho da Arrábida, Portugal in 2010. The 2025 workshop
This article was originally published on Dialogue Earth under the Creative Commons BY NC ND licence. The author is Siripannee Supratya. Siripannee Supratya (Noina) is a Thai journalist focusing on the environment, science, laws and socio-political happenings. In addition to her journalism work, she is a creative communicator and a professional diver. She is on
The Project Seagrass team have been busy working on a range of new features within SeagrassSpotter. Since our last major update in 2023, we have been working to further enhance your experience when participating in the programme and are super excited to share the latest developments. In response to your
A new study led by the University of South Florida highlights the urgent need to protect marine ecosystems in shallow water near the shore —an area that many beachgoers don’t realize is highly important to fish populations. Known as tidal flats, these coastal waters are characterized by a complex mosaic
