Trends in seagrass research in the 21st century – are we there yet?

Duarte's 1999 review, “Seagrass ecology at the turn of the millennium” established a benchmark for seagrass research. Twenty-five years later, an analysis of 11,245 publications (published between 2000–2023) reveals substantial growth but persistent biases. While the volume of annual publications on seagrasses has increased over this period almost 4 folds, seagrass research remains significantly less extensive than studies on mangroves and coral reefs. Authors from only two countries (Australia and the USA) were still responsible for a huge proportion (35 %) of the world's seagrass publications. The seagrass community has remained disproportionately focused on only 4 key species which together account for 59 % of all seagrass publications. While scientific attention continues and even becomes stronger in the last 12 years for Zostera marina and Cymadocoae nodosa, there are some signs of change with recent growing attention to the tropical species Thalassia hemprichii and Halophila stipulacea. While previously dominated by basic descriptive ecology, seagrass research topics have become more quantitative and focused on responses to stressors, genetics and genomics, ecosystem services, and restoration and resilience building.

These findings demonstrate that the seagrass research community needs to shift towards a more holistic and inclusive approach. We must prioritize under-represented species and geographical regions, adopt integrated methodologies and foster strong interdisciplinary collaborations to secure the long-term health and sustainability of these vital coastal ecosystems. Only through such concerted efforts can we effectively address the multifaceted challenges facing seagrasses globally.