7 - Seagrasses in the human environment
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 September 2009
Summary
Introduction
The rapidly expanding scientific knowledge on seagrasses has led to a growing awareness that seagrasses are a valuable coastal resource. Where seagrasses abound, humans benefit directly and indirectly from the presence of this marine vegetation. At the same time, it has also become evident that seagrasses are a vulnerable resource, easily lost in coastal areas facing environmental changes. Declines of seagrasses are reported world-wide, and in many cases anthropogenic factors are suspected to be responsible for these declines. In this chapter the relations between seagrasses and humans are addressed. Particular attention will be given to the various stresses on seagrasses resulting from human activities. Knowledge of the processes that lead to seagrass decline is obviously the key to remedial measures targeting the re-establishment or protection of seagrass systems.
The value of seagrasses to humans
The value of seagrasses, as perceived by humans, changes in time and place. In the past, seagrasses have been valued because the plants yielded material for various practical purposes. This direct use of seagrasses has a long history that continues, although on a very modest scale, until today. Seventeenth and eighteenth century Spanish colonial documents indicate that the seeds of Zostera marina were a major food resource of the Seri Indians living along the Gulf of California. The Seri harvested the carbohydrate-rich seeds to obtain flour that was used in different dishes (Felger et al., 1980). In the north-west Pacific, roots and leaf bases of eelgrass were eaten (Turner & Bell, 1973).
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- Seagrass Ecology , pp. 248 - 291Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2000
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