Seagrass ecosystem services: assessment and scale of benefits

Seagrass ecosystems provide a wide variety of services that support human well-being around the world (Barbier et al. 2011). It is estimated that more than 1 billion people live within 100 km of a coast with seagrass meadows, thus potentially benefiting from their provisioning, regulating and cultural services. Seagrasses play a significant global role in supporting food security, mitigating climate change, enriching biodiversity, purifying water, protecting the coastline and controlling diseases (Figure 2). The integrity and provision of services by seagrass meadows are enhanced by their proximity and connectivity to other coastal ecosystems such as tidal marshes, coral reefs, mangrove and kelp forests, and oyster and mussel beds. The maintenance and regulation of these services is therefore essential to support human well-being and promote development in the future.