Seagrasses and other aquatic plants are foundation species that maintain biodiversity and modify the abiotic and biotic environment including primary and secondary production. They form vast underwater meadows that can contain up to 8-9 co-occurring plant species. My aim is to to look at how this diversity of species and their traits, i.e. functional diversity, influence ecosystem processes. More specifically, I am interested in investigating the interplay between seagrass response and effect traits and their effects on the stability of seagrass meadows (i.e. ability to maintain primary production) during synergistic light reduction and elevated temperatures. In addition, the project addresses generalizability of the importance of seagrass effect traits for primary production at a global scale by comparing two temperate regions with high seagrass diversity (Baltic Sea, Finland, and Western Australia). The project outcome is to discern how diverse temperate meadows maintain ecosystem functioning locally in different habitats and in geographically contrasting regions. Unraveling which combinations of traits are crucial for ecosystem function and stability during extreme events can further support the adoption of an ecosystem approach in ecosystem management and facilitate the development of relevant conservation practices to ensure continuous coastal ecosystem functioning in a changing climate.

People: Camilla Gustafsson, Charlotte Angove, Alf Norkko (TZS), Gary Kendrick and research team (University of Western Australia), Johan Eklöf, Tiina Salo and research team (Stockholm University) 

Funding: Walter and Andrée de Nottbeck Foundation, Academy of Finland, Svenska Kulturfonden, UWA Research Collaboration Award