LLamil Ruiz González
Although in the marine environment coral reefs are the ecosystems that attract the most attention, pastures or seibadales, they are also of great importance from the environmental and economic point of view, which is why several of the studies carried out at the Cayo Coco Coastal Ecosystem Research Center are aimed at their evaluation and protection.
This was stated by Claudia Bustamante López, a researcher at this scientific institution and a specialist in marine vegetation, who added that these ecosystems are made up of plants that have adapted to the aquatic environment, and are the equivalent of the forests that can be found in the terrestrial environment. .
Regarding the importance of seagrasses, also called submerged meadows, Bustamante López affirmed that they intervene in climate regulation, are atmospheric carbon sinks and constitute reservoirs of biodiversity, since precisely many organisms that live both in coral reefs and in mangroves, use them as breeding, feeding and refuge areas.
The effects of climate change and pollution caused by man are some of the factors that most affect the integrity of seagrasses, a scenario that must be changed given the importance of these ecosystems, not only for biodiversity, but even for the human being himself; more than enough reasons why the specialists of the CIEC work in its protection.