@misc{10481/78318,
year = {2022},
month = {11},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/78318},
abstract = {Seagrass conservation is critical formitigating climate change due to the large
stocks of carbon they sequester in the seafloor. However, effective conservation
and its potential to provide nature-based solutions to climate change is
hindered by major uncertainties regarding seagrass extent and distribution.
Here, we describe the characterization of the world’s largest seagrass ecosystem,
located in The Bahamas. We integrate existing spatial estimates with
an updated empirical remote sensing product and perform extensive groundtruthing
of seafloor with 2,542 diver surveys across remote sensing tiles. We
also leverage seafloor assessments and movement data obtained from
instrument-equipped tiger sharks, which have strong fidelity to seagrass ecosystems,
to augment and further validate predictions. We report a consensus
area of at least 66,000 km2 and up to 92,000km2 of seagrass habitat across
The Bahamas Banks. Sediment core analysis of stored organic carbon further
confirmed the global relevance of the blue carbon stock in this ecosystem.
Data from tiger sharks proved important in supporting mapping and groundtruthing
remote sensing estimates. This work provides evidence of major
knowledge gaps in the ocean ecosystem, the benefits in partnering with
marine animals to address these gaps, and underscores support for rapid
protection of oceanic carbon sinks.},
organization = {Beneath The Waves},
organization = {Disney Conservation Fund},
organization = {Barry and Mimi Sternlicht Foundation},
organization = {Sant Family},
organization = {Pictet Foundation},
organization = {Pacific Treasure Foundation},
organization = {King Family},
organization = {D. and J. Harris, B. Coughlin and Family},
organization = {P. Nicholson and WCPD Foundation},
organization = {Southern Tide},
organization = {Hillsdale},
organization = {Thayer Academy},
organization = {Discovery Communications},
organization = {Mary O'Malley and Lupo Dion Trust},
organization = {National Geographic Society},
organization = {J. Lake and JDL, Inc.},
organization = {Towle Family Ocean Foundation},
organization = {Karo Family Trust},
organization = {Science Foundation Ireland	18/SIRG/5549},
organization = {King Abdullah University of Science & Technology},
organization = {36Pix},
publisher = {Nature},
title = {Tiger sharks support the characterization of the world’s largest seagrass ecosystem},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-022-33926-1},
author = {Gallagher, Austin J. and Delgado Huertas, Antonio},
}