Seagrass Factor in Climate Change Mitigation in the Philippines

Abstract

Despite their importance, seagrasses are facing a global decline due primarily to increased nutrient loading and sedimentation resulting from deforestation and agriculture, and, more recently, from seawater warming in shallow coastal waters. With the advent of new technology and a concerted understanding of seagrass ecosystems as vulnerable social-ecological systems, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of studies focusing on the effects of climate change on seagrasses. Here, I provide an account of the status, role, and future of Philippine seagrasses in an era of climate-driven environmental change. I have gathered information from published studies and actual accounts to identify potential commonalities in the effects of climate change and the responses of seagrasses across the molecular, community, and ecosystem levels. Occupying 13.3% or 4,826 km of the total length of the Philippine coastline, seagrass species composition and diversity remain relatively stable. The seagrass beds of the Philippines and Southeast Asia are declining at an estimated rate of 2.62% or 391 km2 yr–1. Coupled with the apparent neglect in accounts of global carbon, this decline indicates a potential to lose an effective source of blue carbon useful in mitigating the impacts of climate change. In this study, I evaluate the combined effects of climate change with other environmental stressors on the ecosystem services of seagrasses and emphasize the need to apply the lessons learned from three decades of local studies to provide a more inclusive science-based knowledge of seagrass- climate interaction and a deeper understanding of the ecosystem’s resilience. I conclude by presenting the most significant knowledge and management gaps and future directions for seagrass research in the Philippines.