Caribbean-wide, long-term study of seagrass beds reveals local variations, shifts in community structure and occasional collapse.

The CARICOMP monitoring network gathered standardized data from 52 seagrass sampling stations at 22 sites (mostly Thalassia testudinum-dominated beds in reef systems) across the Wider Caribbean twice a year over the period 1993 to 2007 (and in some cases up to 2012). Wide variations in community total biomass (285 to >2000 g dry m(-2)) and annual foliar productivity of the dominant seagrass T. testudinum (<200 and >2000 g dry m(-2)) were found among sites.