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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.
[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 ...
The ecosystem services provided by intact reefs, seagrasses, and mangroves are both highly valuable and mutually enhance each other. Coastal protection (storm/wave attenuation) maintains the structure of adjacent ecosystems, and associated ecosystem services, in an offshore-to-onshore direction.
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 ...
They are designed to lessen the impact of wave action with the goal of preventing erosion and creating more seagrass habitat. Help marine life: Healthy seagrass is vital for a healthy ecosystem .
An example of an ecosystem service is pollination, here by a honey bee on avocado crop.. Ecosystem services are the various benefits that humans derive from ecosystems.The interconnected living and non-living components of the natural environment offer benefits such as pollination of crops, clean air and water, decomposition of wastes, and flood control.
As a result, seagrasses provide coastal zones with ecosystem services, such as fishing grounds, wave protection, oxygen production and protection against coastal erosion. Seagrass meadows account for 15% of the ocean's total carbon storage.
[9]: 136 There are 19 seagrass species, with seagrass meadows covering up to 24% of territorial waters. [7]: 17 The value of marine ecosystem services is thought to be around US$966.6 billion. [10]: 13 Municipal fisheries are defined as "fishing in coastal and inland waters with or without the use of boats that are 3 gross tonnes or less".