A changing climate necessitates rethinking tropical marine conservation, researchers say
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181106104218.htm
In an article in Current Biology, Dr Richard Unsworth from the University's College of Science, has revealed that people are relying on coral reefs less for their livelihoods as the reefs are increasingly under threat and facing an uncertain future due to increasing rates of climate change and rising global temperatures.
Instead, the article shows that people are looking to seagrass meadows as a means for fisheries support, but this is putting these habitats under increasing threat around the world. There is now an urgent need to broaden the focus of tropical marine conservation. Although seagrass is globally widespread, there is evidence of rising levels of degradation due to local water problems and physical disturbance, but these are factors that can be managed at local scales. Unsworth said "With the right support there can be a brighter future for seagrass."