Global warming and invasive species threaten seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean

Seafood

United Kingdom

Sustainability & Environmental Impact

Published Feb 7, 2024

Tridge summary

A study led by the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research warns that rising sea temperatures, increased salinity, and the invasion of non-native species in the Mediterranean could threaten the biodiversity of its seagrass meadows. These meadows, which serve as habitats for numerous marine species and act as a CO2 sink, are being infiltrated by the invasive seagrass species, Halophila stipulacea, from the Red Sea. The research predicts a shift from large, long-lived species to smaller, fast-growing ones, potentially disrupting the habitat structure and function for all species reliant on these meadows.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

The rise in sea temperature and salinity in the Mediterranean and the immigration of invasive species could endanger the structure and biodiversity of its seagrass meadows, which play an essential role in the marine environment.This is the conclusion reached by an international team of researchers led by the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in a study recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.Global warming is increasingly leading to worrying changes in the ecosystems of the oceans. Even the Mediterranean is not spared. There, seagrass meadows are regarded as extremely important "ecosystem engineers": They create habitats, provide ecological niches for a large number of marine animal species and thus contribute to the general health and biodiversity of coastal ecosystems. They also have an important function as a CO2 sink.The international team of researchers led by the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in Bremen has now ...

Source: Phys