Seagrass (Holodule wrightii) in Gamboa Bay, Santiago - a unique habitat and largest known meadow of this marine flora in Cabo Verde. Seagrass are flower-producing plants that form meadows in shallow areas along the coast. They account for 10 percent of the ocean's capacity to store carbon, so-called "blue carbon," and can capture carbon from the atmosphere up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests.
The National Directorate of Environment of Cabo Verde started research and conservation of seagrass as part of the 'ResilienSEA' project. ECOCV has joined to support monitoring of this unique habitat. One of the methods applied is photoquadrant, which allows us to estimate relative density of the seagrass and associated species, such as gastropod (Aplysia dactylomela) that we recorded today. We also observed, striped seabreams (Lithognathus mormyrus) feeding in the seagrass meadows, once again, showing the importance of this habitat to various species.
Marine monitoring in collaboration with UniPiaget/ Prof. W.J.Szymaniak
#seagrassCaboVerde #Holodulewrightii #seagrassGamboa #seagrassWestAfrica #ResilienSEA #DNA Ministry of Agriculture and Environment
