TY - JOUR T1 - Recent trend reversal for declining European seagrass meadows A1 - de Los Santos,Carmen B. A1 - Krause-Jensen,Dorte A1 - Alcoverro,Teresa A1 - Marbà,Núria A1 - Duarte,Carlos M. A1 - Van Katwijk,Marieke M. A1 - Pérez,Marta A1 - Romero,Javier A1 - Sánchez-Lizaso,José L. A1 - Roca,Guillem A1 - Jankowska,Emilia A1 - Pérez-Lloréns,José Lucas A1 - Fournier,Jerome A1 - Montefalcone,Monica A1 - Pergent,Gérard A1 - Ruiz,Juan M. A1 - Cabaço,Susana A1 - Cook,Kevan A1 - Wilkes,Robert J. A1 - Moy,Frithjof E. A1 - Trayter,Gregori Muñoz-Ramos A1 - Arañó,Xavier Seglar A1 - de Jong,Dick J. A1 - Fernández-Torquemada,Yolanda A1 - Auby,Isabelle A1 - Vergara,Juan J. A1 - Santos,Rui AD - Centre of Marine Sciences of Algarve (CCMAR), University of Algarve, Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal AD - Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark AD - Arctic Research Centre, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, Building 1540, 8000, Århus C, Denmark AD - Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Carretera Acc, Cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Girona, Spain AD - Global Change Research Group, Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Miquel Marquès 21, 07190, Esporles, Illes Balears, Spain AD - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Red Sea Researh Center (RSRC) and Computational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia AD - Department of Environmental Science, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands AD - Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain AD - Department of Marine Sciences and Applied Biology, University of Alicante, PO BOX 99, 03080, Alicante, Spain AD - Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstańców Warszawy 55, 81-712, Sopot, Poland AD - Department of Biology, Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Marine Research Institute, University of Cádiz, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain AD - Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS UMR 7204 Centre d’Ecologie et des Sciences de la Conservation, Station de Biologie Marine, Place de la Croix BP225, 29182, Concarneau Cedex, France AD - DiSTAV, Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences, University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, 16132, Genoa, Italy AD - Coastal Ecosystem Team (FRES 3041/UMR 6134), University of Corsica, BP 52, 20250, Corte, France AD - Seagrass Ecology Group, Oceanographic Center of Murcia, Spanish Institute of Oceanography, C/Varadero, 30740, San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain AD - Natural England, Pydar House, Truro, TR1 1XU, UK AD - Environmental Protection Agency, John Moore Road, Castlebar, F23 KT91, Co. Mayo, Ireland AD - Institute of Marine Research, P.O.Box 1870 Nordnes, 5817, Bergen, Norway Frithjof E. Moy AD - Medi Ambient, Ajuntament de Badalona, Plaça de la Vila 1, 08911, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain AD - Department Sea and Delta, Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Rijkswaterstaat, 4330 KA, Middelburg, The Netherlands AD - LER Arcachon-Anglet, IFREMER, Quai du commandant Silhouette, 33120, Arcachon, France UR - https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00508/61966/ DO - 10.1038/s41467-019-11340-4 N2 - Seagrass meadows, key ecosystems supporting fisheries, carbon sequestration and coastal protection, are globally threatened. In Europe, loss and recovery of seagrasses are reported, but the changes in extent and density at the continental scale remain unclear. Here we collate assessments of changes from 1869 to 2016 and show that 1/3 of European seagrass area was lost due to disease, deteriorated water quality, and coastal development, with losses peaking in the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, loss rates slowed down for most of the species and fast-growing species recovered in some locations, making the net rate of change in seagrass area experience a reversal in the 2000s, while density metrics improved or remained stable in most sites. Our results demonstrate that decline is not the generalised state among seagrasses nowadays in Europe, in contrast with global assessments, and that deceleration and reversal of declining trends is possible, expectingly bringing back the services they provide. Y1 - 2019/07 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC JF - Nature Communications SN - 2041-1723 VL - 10 IS - 1 ID - 61966 ER -