Seagrass meadows may support health but are disappearing quickly

A new BioScience paper applies the WHO 'one health' concept to seagrass meadows and highlights that these habitats stabilise sediments, filter nutrients and store carbon; many coastal ecosystems are declining due to pollution, overfishing, coastal development and warming seas.

Scientists are drawing attention to links between human health and coastal ecosystems, with a focus on seagrass meadows. A new paper in BioScience applies the World Health Organization's "one health" concept to these underwater flowering plants. Seagrass helps stabilise sediments, reduce wave energy, filter nutrients and store carbon. Many coastal habitats are declining because of pollution, overfishing, coastal development and warming seas. Key points: - Seagrass stabilises sediments, reduces wave energy and filters nutrients from coastal waters. - These functions contribute to reduced coastal flooding, improved water quality and the support of young fish and invertebrates that feed fisheries. - Seagrass and water quality are linked: when water quality worsens, seagrass becomes less abundant and its filtering role weakens. - Other coastal habitats such as kelp forests and shellfish reefs perform similar roles in climate regulation and shoreline protection. - Many losses in marine biodiversity are gradual and occur underwater, with consequences showing up as declining fisheries, poorer water quality and increased vulnerability to extreme weather. - The BioScience paper argues for shifting restoration metrics from area planted toward recovery of ecological function and for linking ecosystem condition to human and animal health through cross-sector collaboration. Summary: Seagrass meadows deliver multiple benefits for ecosystems and people, including cleaner water, carbon storage and support for fisheries. The paper highlights that restoring and valuing these habitats requires measuring recovered ecological function and greater collaboration across coastal management, public health, fisheries and climate adaptation.