Seagrass Conservation

Seagrass Conservation: Global Status and Methods for Monitoring and Restoration brings together regional perspectives on seagrass biology, monitoring, and conservation to highlight the ecological importance and vulnerability of this critical taxon. Seagrasses form large meadows on all continental shelves except Antarctica and provide vital ecosystem services including carbon uptake, nutrient cycling, and biogenic habitat for commercially important fish and invertebrates. This book acknowledges growing threats of global climate change, coastal water quality degradation, and ocean acidification before delving into the many recent advancements in non-invasive methods for monitoring and conservation. Written by globally recognized experts in seagrass biology and conservation, this book provides a much-needed update on the global status of seagrass species, monitoring methods, ecosystem services, and solutions to improve success rates of seagrass restoration. Thematically structured sections explore regional seagrass coverage, non-invasive methods to analyze spatial and temporal decline of meadows, function and resilience of seagrass ecosystems, and methods for successful meadow restoration. Seagrass Conservation recognizes the broad biogeography and global significance of these critical species and addresses rapidly emerging issues through the lens of regional experts in the field. This new work emphasizes the potential for seagrass recovery and offers a functional view of the current and future state of seagrass habitats in an indispensable reference book for academic researchers, industry scientists, conservationists, policymakers, and students alike.