Climate & Environment
Seagrass Meadow
Definition
Seagrass meadows are marine ecosystems formed by flowering plants adapted to life fully submerged in shallow coastal waters. They are core "blue carbon" ecosystems: seagrasses sequester carbon in sediments at high rates, provide nursery habitat for a large share of commercial fish species, filter water, stabilise sediments and support megafauna from dugongs to seahorses.
References
Source imported for editorial provenance.
This reference provides supporting context for how “Seagrass Meadow” is defined and used.
Overview
How it is used
The concept structures blue carbon accounting and crediting, marine spatial planning, water quality management (seagrass as indicator species) and restoration programmes.
Why it matters
Seagrass meadows punch far above their area in carbon, fisheries and coastal protection value; their quiet decline is one of the ocean's most costly, least noticed losses.