SEAGRASS MEADOWS

Introduction

Seagrasses are fully submerged flowering plants that can grow in meadows and are found in the near-shore coastal areas of all continents except Antarctica.

Although seagrasses account for less than 0.2% of the world’s oceans, they sequester approximately 10% of the carbon buried in ocean sediment annually (27.4Tg of carbon per year).

Seagrass Meadows Impact on the Ecosystem

What can seagrass do?

  1. Water filtration services, by holding nutrients and sediment in their grassy biomass which results in high water clarity.

  2. Remove carbon from seawater to photosynthesize and grow.

  3. Provide habitat for many species of fish and invertebrates and feeding areas for prawns and juvenile fish.

  4. Nutritious food source for animals such as sea turtles, dugongs, manatees.

Seagrasses are among the most threatened ecosystems on earth, with annual global losses of around 1.5%.

29% of Earth’s ecosystems are destroyed.

Devastation of Seagrass Meadows

Causes:

  1. Propeller Scarring and Moorings

  2. Coastal Development

  3. Declining Water Quality

Recovery and growth of seagrasses in these scarred areas takes years, and if the damage is repeated, the seagrass bed may never completely recover.

Scarring also leaves seagrass beds vulnerable to storms and other forms of erosion.

Propeller Scarring ("Recent Report Documents Prop Scarring in Florida Bay", 2008)