Seagrass ecosystems reduce disease risk and economic loss in marine farming production.

ABSTRACT: Seaweed farming comprises over half of global coastal and marine aquaculture production by mass; however, the future of the industry is increasingly threatened by disease outbreaks. Nature-based solutions provided by enhancing functions of coinciding species or ecosystems offer an opportunity to increase yields by reducing disease outbreaks while conserving biodiversity. Seagrass ecosystems can reduce the abundance of marine bacterial pathogens, although it remains unknown whether this service can extend to reducing disease risk in a marine resource. Using a meta-analysis of articles published over the past 40 y, we find that 17 known diseases of seaweeds are attributed to bacteria that have been previously shown to be lower when associated with seagrass ecosystems. Next, we surveyed over

SUBMITTER: Fiorenza EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11670088 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature