Ecosystem Recovery
Since 1999, broadcasting more than 70 million seeds of the seagrass Zostera marina into coastal lagoons in Virginia has led to the reestablishment of more than 3600 hectares of previously lost seagrass beds. Orth et al. found that seagrass recovery led to rapid increases in the production and diversity of animals, increases in carbon and nitrogen sequestration, decreases in turbidity, and increases in previously depleted bay scallops. This is one of the larger success stories of ecosystem restoration and demonstrates that reversal of ecological collapse is possible when sustained initial efforts lead to positive feedbacks that support ecosystem recovery.
Sci. Adv. 10.1126/sciadv.abc6434 (2020).
Marieke M. van Katwijk, Anitra Thorhaug, Núria Marbà, Robert J. Orth, Carlos M. Duarte, Gary A. Kendrick, Inge Althuizen, Elena Balestri, Guillaume Bernard, Marion L. Cambridge, Alexandra H. Cunha, Cynthia Durance, Wim Giesen, Qiuying Han, Shinya Hosokawa, Wawan Kiswara, Teruhisa Komatsu, Claudio Lardicci, Kun‐Seop Lee, Alexandre Meinesz, Masahiro Nakaoka, Katherine R. O’Brien, E.I. Paling, Chris Pickerell, Aryan M. A. Ransijn, Jennifer Verduin
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