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[7] [8] Ten seagrass species are at elevated risk of extinction (14% of all seagrass species) with three species qualifying as endangered. Seagrass loss and degradation of seagrass biodiversity will have serious repercussions for marine biodiversity and the human population that depends upon the resources and ecosystem services that seagrasses ...
A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries . Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and long green, grass-like leaves.
Seagrasses are the foundation of complex ecosystems, primarily from the ability to colonise inshore coastal sand with its roots and matted rhizomes. These meadows are able to provide habitat to other species, especially epiphytic relationships, and are a food source for other organisms.
Shark Bay has the largest known area of seagrass, with seagrass meadows covering over 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi) of the bay. [1] It includes the 1,030-square-kilometre (400 sq mi) Wooramel Seagrass Bank , the largest seagrass bank in the world [ 1 ] and contains a 200-square-kilometre (77 sq mi) Posidonia australis meadow formed by a ...
Thanks to data collected by these apex predators, researchers revealed the world’s largest known seagrass ecosystem, which covers an area of about 35,000 square miles (92,000 square kilometers ...
However, today seagrass meadows are being damaged by human activities such as pollution from land runoff, fishing boats that drag dredges or trawls across the meadows uprooting the grass, and overfishing which unbalances the ecosystem. Seagrass meadows are currently being destroyed at a rate of about two football fields every hour [citation ...
Wrack line on a sandy beach adjacent to a sand dune ecosystem. Beach wrack or marine wrack is organic material (e.g. kelp, seagrass, driftwood) and other debris deposited at high tide on beaches and other coastal areas. This material acts as a natural input of marine resources into a terrestrial system, providing food and habitat for a variety ...
Posidonia oceanica, commonly known as Neptune grass or Mediterranean tapeweed, is a seagrass species that is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. [2] It forms large underwater meadows that are an important part of the ecosystem. The fruit is free floating and known in Italy as "the olive of the sea" (l'oliva di mare [3]).