CEBIMário: From theory to the dinner plate: how seagrasses are progressing ecology and saving the planet

Local: Canal do CEBIMar no YouTube, link: https://youtu.be/1RW6iogwpDs

Palestrante: Jonathan Lefcheck (MarineGEO Smithsonian)

Organizador: Juan Pablo Quimbayo (CEBIMar/USP)

Resumo: Seagrass meadows are called “the forgotten ecosystem” by the United Nations Environmental Programme, but we are learning that they are incredibly important, both in sustaining healthy coastlines and also in promoting human well-being. Seagrasses have also been long-used as a model system to develop foundational ecological theory. In this talk, I explore how seagrasses are continuing to progress ecological theory by integrating concepts of facilitation into a long-standing paradigm of top-down control using a novel experimental manipulation. Next, I propose that a better understanding of seagrasses and their distribution across the globe can improve our ability to combat climate change. Finally, I examine the underrecognized role that seagrass meadows have in promoting healthy diets in developing nations, illustrating the multifaceted relationship that these ecosystems have with humans.