Diverging trends of coastal ecosystem extent and condition: global seagrass monitoring highlights the need for coordinated data collection at multiple scales

Conference Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Krause, Johannes R.;Lefcheck, Jonathan S.;Orth, Robert J.;Patrick, Christopher J.;Lizcano-Sandoval, Luis;McKenzie, Len J.;Reshitnyk, Luba;Manning, Faye;Monteith, Zachary L.;Hessing-Lewis, Margot;York, Paul H.;Rasheed, Michael A.;Carter, Alex;McKenna, Skye;Vaudrey, Jamie M.P.;Connolly, Rod M.;Fourqurean, James W.;Duffy, Emmett
Abstract

Vegetated coastal ecosystems are recognized for the services they provide but are declining globally. As a result, actions to monitor, assess, and manage these systems have been taken to ensure their continued benefit to nature and people. A variety of monitoring programs have been deployed at multiple scales of observation, from estimations of areal extent to in-situ observations of local condition (e.g., cover). However, it is rare that monitoring programs observe both scales simultaneously, and it is unclear to what extent observations from both scales can be compared, integrated, or even used interchangeably in regional and global syntheses of status and trends. Here, we analyzed data from five independent seagrass monitoring programs to test for correlation and causation between observations of areal extent and local condition. We found that, generally, trends in local condition were decoupled from changes in regional extent through time, and local condition data rarely detected changes before they manifested in areal extent observations. Our findings from seagrasses suggest that a comprehensive assessment of the status and trends of coastal ecosystems necessitates observations of both habitat extent and condition, and further highlights the need for coordinated efforts and open data sharing to support future monitoring efforts globally

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ISBW 2024: International Seagrass Biology Workshop

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1

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Naples, Italy

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World Seagrass Federation

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Naples, Italy

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