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About the Authors:
Brigitta I. van Tussenbroek
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cancún, Mexico
Jorge Cortés
Affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica
Rachel Collin
Affiliation: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, Republic of Panama
Ana C. Fonseca
Affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica
Peter M. H. Gayle
Affiliation: Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory, Discovery Bay, Jamaica
Hector M. Guzmán
Affiliation: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, Republic of Panama
Gabriel E. Jácome
Affiliation: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, Republic of Panama
Rahanna Juman
Affiliation: Institute of Marine Affairs, Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago
Karen H. Koltes
Affiliation: Office of Insular Affairs, Department of the Interior, Washington DC, United States of America
Hazel A. Oxenford
Affiliation: CERMES, University of the West Indies, Barbados, West Indies
Alberto Rodríguez-Ramirez
Current address: The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia,
Affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (INVEMAR), Santa Marta, Colombia
Jimena Samper-Villarreal
Affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica
Struan R. Smith
Current address: Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo, Bermuda,
Affiliation: Bermuda Biological Station for Research, St. George, Bermuda
John J. Tschirky
Affiliation: Garrett Park, Maryland, United States of America
Ernesto Weil
Affiliation: Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, United States of America
Introduction
Seagrass beds are among the most extensive shallow marine coastal habitats worldwide [1]. Their ecosystem services include sustaining diverse faunal communities [1], supporting fisheries [2], providing coastal protection through stabilization of sediments [3], cycling of nutrients [4] and carbon sequestration [5], [6]. In the Caribbean, seagrasses are associated with marine/brackish protected bays and estuaries or reef systems (reef lagoons between the coastlines and the coral reefs). In reef systems, seagrass communities fulfil the above-mentioned services, and additionally provide important ecological linkages with the adjacent coral reefs and/or mangroves. Seagrass communities support the existence of coral reefs through the export of organic materials [7] and provide grazing grounds and/or nurseries for coral reef fishes and other reef fauna [8]–[10]. In addition, associated calcareous macro-algae and epiphytes (algae...