Vanishing Seagrass: as Important as Coral Reefs (But Way Less Sexy)

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Human beings are increasingly making their homes on the coasts of continents, but this demographic shift is taking a toll on a sensitive coastal ecosystem that is often overlooked: seagrass meadows. A new analysis of seagrass abundance around the world found that 27 percent of these meadows have disappeared since 1879, and the rate of loss is accelerating. The study’s authors write: “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….. Our report of mounting seagrass losses reveals a major global environmental crisis in coastal ecosystems, for which seagrasses are sentinels of change” [Nature News]. Endangered species expert Susanne Livingstone notes that despite these losses seagrass rarely makes it into the public consciousness. “It’s probably because they’re not as sexy [as corals], they’re not as attractive,” she says. “They’re just as ecologically important if not more so” [Nature News]. Seagrass meadows provide grazing for a variety of marine animals, including the green turtle and the manatee-like dugong. The coastal areas also serve as nurseries for fish; both coral reefs and commercial fisheries would feel the impact if seagrass meadows vanish.

In the study, which will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers say that nutrients in sewage and run-off from agriculture and industry are the major cause of seagrass death…. These nutrients trigger the growth of algae, plants and animals that grow above or on seagrass, and stop it from getting the sunlight it needs [Australian Broadcasting Corporation].

Seagrasses, which evolved from terrestrial plants, are the only flowering plants that can live entirely in water. They are most closely related to lilies and are very different to seaweeds, which are algae…. Seagrass beds are believed to rival rice paddies in their photosynthetic productivity or the ability to extract greenhouse gas CO2 and convert it into oxygen and stored carbon matter [Reuters]. If seagrass meadows continue to shrink in shallow coastal waters around the world, it will accelerate the pace of global warming, researchers say.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/...-way-less-sexy/

[HAL 9000 96]

Nonsense Stevo!!! The planties are just fine! GW is not real so we can pollute them as much as we want and there ain't nothing we can do to slow down natural warming because it was cool in Chicago yesterday.

[Ladylethal 12]

Eh, we're killing the world. That's a fact. News show now come like "Humanity screws up something else on the planet".

I've had wonderful dreams where at least 2/3 of Earth's human population was wiped out by some phenomenon, in ways to clear some of the mess we've caused, and to let the fauna and flora increase again. Wouldn't that be lovely?

Edited July 1, 2009 by Ladylethal

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I've had wonderful dreams where at least 2/3 of Earth's human population was wiped out by some phenomenon, in ways to clear some of the mess we've caused, and to let the fauna and flora increase again. Wouldn't that be lovely?

Mass murder is not lovely.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Eh, we're killing the world. That's a fact. News show now come like "Humanity screws up something else on the planet".

I've had wonderful dreams where at least 2/3 of Earth's human population was wiped out by some phenomenon, in ways to clear some of the mess we've caused, and to let the fauna and flora increase again. Wouldn't that be lovely?

No.

[Ban Hammer 13,551]

I've had wonderful dreams where at least 2/3 of Earth's human population was wiped out by some phenomenon, in ways to clear some of the mess we've caused, and to let the fauna and flora increase again. Wouldn't that be lovely?

Mass murder is not lovely.

never stopped those that do it.

[HAL 9000 96]

Sadly... I see where Laura is taking her logic... not lovely at all but it would cull a massive part of the problem as long as polluting sources go along with the cull. Of course that is not realistic.

[Ladylethal 12]

I've had wonderful dreams where at least 2/3 of Earth's human population was wiped out by some phenomenon, in ways to clear some of the mess we've caused, and to let the fauna and flora increase again. Wouldn't that be lovely?

Mass murder is not lovely.

Who said murder? More like natural selection. Preventing the Earth to go the way of the dodo.

For all the haterz that might show up. Yes, it's a joke about wonderful and being lovely. No I don't really wish for the deaths of millions (although I can think of quite a few people who would totally deserve it). It is true though, we're ruining our own planet and the fact that there are way too many people here contributes to all the practices that are causing our own destruction. Natural selection will indeed one day come into play, when people need to develop new resistances against the heat, pollution, ozone-less sun, etc.

Edited July 1, 2009 by Ladylethal

[HAL 9000 96]

I've had wonderful dreams where at least 2/3 of Earth's human population was wiped out by some phenomenon, in ways to clear some of the mess we've caused, and to let the fauna and flora increase again. Wouldn't that be lovely?

Mass murder is not lovely.

Who said murder? More like natural selection. Preventing the Earth to go the way of the dodo.

For all the haterz that might show up. Yes, it's a joke about wonderful and being lovely. No I don't really wish for the deaths of millions (although I can think of quite a few people who would totally deserve it). It is true though, we're ruining our own planet and the fact that there are way too many people here contributes to all the practices that are causing our own destruction. Natural selection will indeed one day come into play, when people need to develop new resistances against the heat, pollution, ozone-less sun, etc.

And it shant be the fair-skinned. Unless those of us that burn easily go underground and turn into mind-reading, cannibalistic freaks. Hmmmm...

I prefer we all stay the same species and do something about quitting all the damage were doing to our only home.

[Ladylethal 12]

The european whiteys would be the first to go. And then us puny south americans descendants from thew weak bodied south american indians.

Edited July 1, 2009 by Ladylethal

[HAL 9000 96]

The european whiteys would be the first to go. And then us puny south americans descendants from thew weak bodied south american indians.

Well those of us that can blend in with the undergrounders would be OK. Eventually we'd depigmentize some more.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The european whiteys would be the first to go. And then us puny south americans descendants from thew weak bodied south american indians.

Well those of us that can blend in with the undergrounders would be OK. Eventually we'd depigmentize some more.

I was thinking of trying to find my ancestral cave....it probably has some drawings on it...runs in the family.

[Ladylethal 12]

The european whiteys would be the first to go. And then us puny south americans descendants from thew weak bodied south american indians.

Well those of us that can blend in with the undergrounders would be OK. Eventually we'd depigmentize some more.

I'm already off-whiteish. For brazilian standars I'm too white, but not pure white like the people from the south.

[Ban Hammer 13,551]

I've had wonderful dreams where at least 2/3 of Earth's human population was wiped out by some phenomenon, in ways to clear some of the mess we've caused, and to let the fauna and flora increase again. Wouldn't that be lovely?

Mass murder is not lovely.

Who said murder? More like natural selection. Preventing the Earth to go the way of the dodo.

For all the haterz that might show up. Yes, it's a joke about wonderful and being lovely. No I don't really wish for the deaths of millions (although I can think of quite a few people who would totally deserve it). It is true though, we're ruining our own planet and the fact that there are way too many people here contributes to all the practices that are causing our own destruction. Natural selection will indeed one day come into play, when people need to develop new resistances against the heat, pollution, ozone-less sun, etc.

so you do support the neutron bomb?

The european whiteys would be the first to go. And then us puny south americans descendants from thew weak bodied south american indians.

Well those of us that can blend in with the undergrounders would be OK. Eventually we'd depigmentize some more.

I'm already off-whiteish. For brazilian standars I'm too white, but not pure white like the people from the south.

i'm darker than you are.

[HAL 9000 96]

The european whiteys would be the first to go. And then us puny south americans descendants from thew weak bodied south american indians.

Well those of us that can blend in with the undergrounders would be OK. Eventually we'd depigmentize some more.

I was thinking of trying to find my ancestral cave....it probably has some drawings on it...runs in the family.

Find it and keep it dude. We'd also need guns to keep the riff raff out.