Status, Trends, and Conservation of Eelgrass in Atlantic Canada and the Northeastern United States. Report of a Workshop Held February 24-25, 2009 at Regency Hotel, Portland, Maine

摘要

Eelgrass (Zostera marina L) is the dominant seagrass occurring in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, where it often forms extensive meadows in coastal and estuarine areas. Eelgrass beds are extremely productive and provide many valuable ecological functions and ecosystem services. They serve as critical feeding and nursery habitat for a wide variety of commercially and recreationally important fish and shellfish and as feeding areas for waterfowl and other waterbirds. Eelgrass detritus is also transported considerable distances to fuel offshore food webs. In addition, eelgrass beds stabilize bottom sediments, dampen wave energy, absorb nutrients from surrounding waters, and retain carbon through burial. Documented declines in the distribution and abundance of eelgrass in both the United States and Canada have resulted in considerable interest in the status, trends, and conservation of this important marine resource on a regional scale.