Accelerating loss of seagrasses across the globe threatens coastal ecosystems
Open accessAbstract
Coastal ecosystems and the services they provide are adversely affected by a wide variety of human activities. In particular, seagrass meadows are negatively affected by impacts accruing from the billion or more people who live within 50 km of them. Seagrass meadows provide important ecosystem services, including an estimated $1.9 trillion per year in the form of nutrient cycling; an order of magnitude enhancement of coral reef fish productivity; a habitat for thousands of fish, bird, and invertebrate species; and a major food source for endangered dugong, manatee, and green turtle. Although individual impacts from coastal development, degraded water quality, and climate change have been documented, there has been no quantitative global assessment of seagrass loss until now. Our comprehensive global assessment of 215 studies found that seagrasses have been disappearing at a rate of 110 km 2 yr −1 since 1980 and that 29% of the known areal extent has disappeared since seagrass areas were initially recorded in 1879. Furthermore, rates of decline have accelerated from a median of 0.9% yr −1 before 1940 to 7% yr −1 since 1990. Seagrass loss rates are comparable to those reported for mangroves, coral reefs, and tropical rainforests and place seagrass meadows among the most threatened ecosystems on earth.
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Chronic light limitation lowers seagrass productivity and contributes to areal loss of seagrass habitats.
“Chronic light limitation had been shown to lower seagrass productivity and contribute to the accelerating areal loss of these habitats [6–8].”
From Light Levels Affect Carbon Utilisation in Tropical Seagrass under Ocean Acidification (2016) · cites this paper as [7]
The Discussion (page unavailable) says sediment loading deteriorates the underwater light conditions critical for seagrass growth and identifies nutrient and sediment pollution among threats associated with seagrass decline. The Results (page unavailable) document areal loss. The paper does not specifically establish that chronic light limitation lowers seagrass productivity or quantify its contribution to that loss. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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- Authors
- Waycott, M., Duarte, C. M., Carruthers, T. J. B., Orth, R. J., Dennison, W. C., Olyarnik, S., Calladine, A., Fourqurean, J. W., Heck, K. L., Hughes, A. R., Kendrick, G. A., Kenworthy, W. J., Short, F. T., & Williams, S. L.
- Affiliations
- James Cook University (AU)
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
- University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (US)
- William & Mary (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Florida International University (US)
- Dauphin Island Sea Lab (US)
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US)
- University of New Hampshire (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2009-07-28
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 30
- Pages
- 12377-12381
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC2707273
- OpenAlex
- W2094785904
- Cited by
- 3,955
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 257 · 2025: 252 · 2024: 260 · 2023: 288 · 2022: 350 · 2021: 322 · 2020: 325 · 2019: 252 · 2018: 260 · 2017: 281 · 2016: 223 · 2015: 168 · 2014: 188 · 2013: 172 · 2012: 130
- FWCI
- 81.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ResearchOnline - JCU (James Cook University) (submittedVersion)
- W&M Publish (College of William & Mary) (submittedVersion)
- UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion)
- University of New Hampshire Scholars Repository (University of New Hampshire at Manchester) (submittedVersion)
- AquaDocs (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) (submittedVersion)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine and coastal plant biology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine Biology and Ecology Research
- Keywords
- seagrass decline, seagrass meadows, coastal ecosystem services, coastal development impacts, water quality degradation, climate change impacts, ecosystem threats, nutrient cycling
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Conservation of Natural Resources, Environmental Monitoring, Humans, Marine Biology, Population Density, Population Dynamics, Seawater, Ecosystem, Alismatales
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