Seagrasses are a vital and widespread but often overlooked coastal marine habitat. This volume provides a global survey of their distribution and conservation status.

This thorough and informative volume presents a set of detailed, globally applicable techniques for seagrass research.The book provides methods for all aspects of seagrass science from basic plant collection to statistical approaches and investigations of plant-animal interaction. The emphasis is on methods that are applicable in both developing and developed countries. The importance of seagrasses in coastal and near shore environments, and ultimately their contribution to the productivity of the world's oceans, has become increasingly recognised over the last 40 years.Seagrasses provide food for sea turtles, nearly 100 fish species, waterfowl and for the marine mammals the manatee and dugong. Seagrasses also support complex food webs by virtue of their physical structure and primary production and are well known for their role as breeding grounds and nurseries for important crustacean, finfish and shell fish populations. Seagrasses are the basis of an important detrital food chain. The plants filter nutrients and contaminants from the water, stabilise sediments and act as dampeners to wave action. Seagrasses rank with coral reefs and mangroves as some of the world's most productive coastal habitat and strong linkages among these habitats make the loss of seagrasses a contributing factor in the degradation of the world's oceans.Contributors from around the world provide up-to-date methods for comparable collection of ecological information from both temperate and tropical seagrass ecosystems.

This volume incorporates theoretical and practical knowledge through case studies and reviews to serve as a baseline of information for coastal ecosystem research, and discusses the impacts of pollution, industrialisation, agriculture and climate change on coastal ecosystem biogeochemistry and biodiversity. The case studies address the role of coastal ecosystems as a carbon sink which is getting impacted by anthropogenic disturbances. Through this analysis, the book covers various strategies for the conservation and management of coastal ecosystems, considering their unique ecological and biogeochemical attributes and region-specific threats and impacts. The book will be of interest to a wide range of readers including students, researchers and professionals in coastal ecosystem science, coastal pollution, climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and environmental management.

More than 70% of the earth's surface is covered by water, making it an ideal and abundant resource for studying species diversity, faunal communities, and ecosystems. India's massive coastline (5,044 miles) means it plays a major role in housing these faunal communities. Of the 32 animal phyla, 15 are represented in India's marine ecosystem, covering more than 15,000 species. Marine and coastal ecosystems of India provide supporting services in the form of wide range of habitats. Major ecosystems such as estuaries, mangroves, coral reefs, lagoons, seaweeds and sea grasses serve as nurseries for both inshore and offshore fishes and others, many of which are supposed to be commercially exploited. Marine Faunal Diversity in India describes different marine faunal group ranges from sponges, corals, mollusks, crabs, fishes, reptiles, birds, marine mammals, mangrove fauna and tsunami impact on marine faunal diversity. The chapters, written by reputed experts in their respective fields, illustrate diversity and distribution of marine faunal communities. Key aspects of the ecology and conservation of this important ecosystem are also discussed. Marine Faunal Diversity in India provides marine biologists and related researchers with access to the latest research and field studies from this major region. - Provides the latest field research on marine faunal diversity throughout the vast and species-rich Indian region - Brings together expertise from top marine biology researchers in the country - Covers a diverse array of aquatic environments, including coastal and island areas - Discusses conservation ecology of marine faunal groups

This book takes the place of “Biology of Seagrasses: A Treatise on the Biology of Seagrasses with Special Reference to the Australian Region”, co-edited by A.W.D. Larkum, A.J. MaCComb and S.A. Shepherd and published by Elsevier in 1989. The first book has been influential, but it is now 25 years since it was published and seagrass studies have progressed and developed considerably since then. The design of the current book follows in the steps of the first book. There are chapters on taxonomy, floral biology, biogeography and regional studies. The regional studies emphasize the importance of Australia having over half of the world’s 62 species, including some ten species published for Australia since the previous book. There are a number of chapters on ecology and biogeography; fish biology and fisheries and dugong biology are prominent chapters. Physiological aspects again play an important part, including new knowledge on the role of hydrogen sulphide in sediments and on photosynthetic processes. Climate change, pollution and environmental degradation this time gain an even more important part of the book. Decline of seagrasses around Australia are also discussed in detail in several chapters. Since the first book was published two new areas have received special attention: blue carbon and genomic studies. Seagrasses are now known to be a very important player in the formation of blue carbon, i.e. carbon that has a long turnover time in soils and sediments. Alongside salt marshes and mangroves, seagrasses are now recognized as playing a very important role in the formation of blue carbon. And because Australia has such an abundance and variety of seagrasses, their role in blue carbon production and turnover is of great importance. The first whole genomes of seagrasses are now available and Australia has played an important role here. It appears that seagrasses have several different suites of genes as compared with other (land) plants and even in comparison with freshwater hydrophytes. This difference is leading to important molecular biological studies where the new knowledge will be important to the understanding and conservation of seagrass ecosystems in Australia. Thus by reason of its natural abundance of diverse seagrasses and a sophisticated seagrass research community in Australia it is possible to produce a book which will be attractive to marine biologists, coastal scientists and conservationists from many countries around the world.

This book provides insights into various aspects of marine faunal communities in India, which are extremely diverse due to the geomorphologic and climatic variations along the Indian coasts. Consisting of 30 chapters by experts in their respective fields, it is divided into two parts: · Part I: Tropical Marine Faunal Communities · Part II: Ecology and Conservation Part I highlights the diversity and distribution of Foraminifera; sponges associated with seagrass; Polychaeta; Opisthobranchia; oysters; copepods; horseshoe and brachyuran crabs; echinoderms; ascidians; fishes; fish parasites; and sea mammals. Topics of Part II include the status and environmental parameters of benthos; the status of coral reefs; the invasion of snowflake coral; the recovery of bleached corals; the socioeconomics and management of dugong; marine biodiversity conservation and management in India; the assessment of the marine fauna of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act; and marine biodiversity protected areas in India. This book will serve as a valuable reference work for marine scientists, as well as for environmental managers and policy makers.

India has 7,500 km of coastline with diverse habitats and rich biota. Coastal ecosystems, unfortunately, are experiencing wide range of pressures due to siltation, eutrophication, coastal development, aquaculture and climate change. Those species that adapt to these pressures will expand their living boundaries while others may fade away. Accordingly, the study of coastal biodiversity is of great concern globally and constitutes an important element of global change research. Gujarat has 1,600 km of coastline, reportedly with rich diversity of seaweeds. Previously published accounts on seaweed biodiversity were mainly in the form of checklists, the earliest among these being the checklist of Krishnamurthy and Joshi prepared in the early 1970s. The more recent checklists are based almost entirely on secondary information. The present book entitled Seaweeds of India – The Diversity and Distribution of Seaweeds of Gujarat Coast is a timely publication based wholly on primary data. Data were collected through extensive and systematic ? eld studies conducted by the authors during different seasons over a three year period. The authors collected nearly 200 species of seaweeds belonging to 100 genera of Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta. Twenty-four of the species are new to Gujarat coast and three are new to Indian waters. The book contains high-quality images of the different species in their existing habitats. Brief taxonomical descriptions, together with information on ecology, distribution, seasonality and abundance, are covered for each of the species.