News

Research

What causes decline of tropical seagrass meadows?

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 from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) primarily explained the physiological and biochemical mechanisms underlying the decline of tropical seagrass meadows caused by heat stress combined with high light at different functional levels. The study was published in Marine Pollution Bulletin.   The effect of…
Benjamin Jones
May 29, 2023
Research

Fauna return rapidly in planted seagrass meadows, study shows

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 heavily in southern Bohus county in recent decades and in many places have disappeared altogether. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have been working on the restoration of eelgrass meadows for twelve years. These meadows are important for biodiversity, as the eelgrass serves as habitat or nursery for young cod,…
Benjamin Jones
May 17, 2023
Research

Seagrass meadows show resilience to ‘bounce back’ after die-offs

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 seagrass die-off events. Seagrass die-offs also are linked to exposure to sediment-derived hydrogen sulfide, a well-known phytotoxin that accumulates as seagrass ecosystems become more enriched in nutrients. While hydrogen sulfide intrusion into seagrass tissue is considered a leading cause of recurring mortality events, its effects on subsequent recruitment and distribution…
Benjamin Jones
May 4, 2023
Projects

Nursery News Vol. 19

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
Editorial
April 19, 2023
Blogs

World Seagrass Day and Seagrass Awareness Month at Project Seagrass

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 our ocean, creating vital marine habitats (known as seagrass meadows) within shallow, sheltered coastal areas. Seagrass meadows have many ecosystem services: they serve as a habitat, nursery ground and feeding area for thousands of marine animals. They also produce oxygen, improve water quality, buffer ocean acidification, reduce coastal erosion and…
Editorial
April 5, 2023
Food for thoughtGuest BlogResearch

Visiting one of the worlds most remote seagrass meadows

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 and soft-bottom areas. Heterozostera nigricaulis is native to the southern coast of Australia (Coyer et al. 2013), from where it colonized Chile some 100s to 1000s years ago (Smith et al. 2018). In Australia, they form extensive meadows that produce large quantities of non-buoyant seeds and specialized vegetative rhizomes used…
Editorial
March 19, 2023
Press Release

Ben Jones appointed as President of the World Seagrass Association

Dr Benjamin Jones, Chief Conservation Officer at Project Seagrass has started his two-year term as President of the World Seagrass Association (WSA). He steps up to the role having been elected at the WSA Annual General Meeting (AGM) in December 2022. Prior to this he’s served on the WSA Steering Committee for a number of years. “I’m so thrilled to take on this challenge alongside the management committee consisting of Vice President Emma Jackson, Treasurer Yi Mei Tan and Secretary Len McKenzie, as well as the Steering Committee who will share collective responsibilities in determining and delivering the strategic direction…
Benjamin Jones
February 8, 2023