Research

We reconstructed time series of seagrass meadow area at 547 sites and found declining trends in all seven bioregions with a total loss of 5602 km2 (19.1% of surveyed meadow area) since 1880. Declines were usually non-linear, often with rapid losses, but, in some bioregions trends have recently stabilised or reversed. Meanwhile, in individual meadows, trends were highly variable. Poor water quality and coastal development were commonly cited reasons for change; however, these attributions were primarily descriptive. This suggests that we urgently need to improve understanding of the causes of seagrass meadow loss if we are to improve local-scale management.