Taking the Pulse of Resilience in Conserving Seagrass Meadows.

This article focuses on assessing eelgrass (Zostera marina) health as a proxy for resilience to climate warming and disease stressors in temperate marine ecosystems, particularly in the Northeast Pacific. It presents findings from long-term surveys in the San Juan Islands, Washington, USA, showing that eelgrass meadows in shallower, intertidal zones exhibit higher prevalence and severity of seagrass wasting disease caused by the pathogen Labyrinthula zosterae, coinciding with significant declines over 20 years. In contrast, deeper, subtidal eelgrass meadows show lower disease severity and greater stability or increases in coverage, suggesting these areas may serve as climate refugia. The study advocates for integrating disease monitoring with emerging technologies like drone surveys and machine learning to identify resilient habitats for targeted conservation, supporting climate-smart marine protected area design and restoration efforts that incorporate assisted evolution strategies.