Submerged Aquatic Vegetation - not just seagrass!

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) is an all-encompassing term for rooted, vascular angiosperms that includes freshwater, estuarine, and marine plants, or seagrasses. SAV is an important natural resource globally, and more specifically to this collaborative, along the U.S. East Coast. SAV meadows and fringing beds contribute extensively to our coastal ecosystem dynamics and provide numerous ecosystem services. These services include the provision of food, habitat, and nursery grounds for commercially and recreationally important finfish and shellfish; sustenance for resident and migrating waterfowl; uptake of excess nutrients which reduces the prevalence of algae blooms; and the reduction of wave and current energy which promotes water clarity and reduces the potential for shoreline erosion. Further, SAV is an important tool for mitigating climate impacts - it sequesters carbon and buffers coastal acidification. 

Regardless of its importance, threats to SAV abound and we are losing SAV habitat at an astonishing rate worldwide. Historically, threats to SAV fall primarily in the realm of degraded water quality - water that does not have adequate clarity for SAV to photosynthesize and thrive. Direct physical loss from shoreline alteration and vessel impacts is also a major threat. More recently, the impact of climate change on SAV, particularly to heat-intolerant species like Zostera marina, has become a significant concern.