seagrass meadow

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a coastal marine ecosystem dominated by flowering plants of the family Zosteraceae and related families that form dense underwater meadows in shallow, sheltered coastal waters including bays, lagoons, and estuaries around the world; seagrass meadows are among the most ecologically and economically valuable coastal ecosystems, providing nursery habitat for commercially important fish and invertebrates, grazing grounds for dugongs, green sea turtles, and waterfowl, physical stabilisation of seabed sediments, water filtration, and carbon sequestration at rates per unit area exceeding even tropical rainforests; they are among the most threatened marine habitats, declining globally due to eutrophication from agricultural runoff, coastal development, turbidity, and physical disturbance from boat anchoring and trawling