Empowering Regional Conservation: Genetic Diversity Assessments as a Tool for Eelgrass Management.

ABSTRACT: To halt the loss of biodiversity, collaboration among scientists, managers and decision-makers is vital. Although biodiversity loss is a global problem, management actions influencing diversity are often on a local to regional scale. Our study is an example of a regional conservation genomic assessment developed in collaboration between scientists and managers. We used 2bRAD sequencing to assess 18 eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows in northwestern Sweden, an area that has experienced large losses of eelgrass since the 1980s. Genetic diversity was comparable to other assessed meadows in the Atlantic, but an order of magnitude lower than eelgrass in the Pacific. All but one meadow showed high rates of sexual reproduction. Almost all meadows were divergent but grouped into five genetic cluste

SUBMITTER: Faust E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12684364 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature