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With data from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission, researchers have revealed seasonal variations in intertidal seagrass across Western Europe and North Africa. As a key indicator of biodiversity, these new findings offer valuable insights for the conservation and restoration of these vital ecosystems.

The intertidal zone is the area where the ocean meets the land between high and low tides, and here seagrasses can form extensive meadows. These flowering marine plants provide critical habitats, acting as shelter, nurseries, and feeding and spawning grounds for a diverse range of birds, fish and invertebrates. Beyond their ecological importance, seagrass meadows also stabilize sediments and protect coastlines from erosion.

Monitoring the occurrence, extent, condition and diversity of intertidal seagrass as a key biodiversity variable is essential for assessing the overall health of local ecosystems.

Current global estimates of seagrass coverage do not differentiate between seagrasses in the intertidal zone and those in the subtidal zone, which remain submerged below the sea surface.

However, a recent paper, published in Communications Earth & Environment, details how a team of scientists used high-resolution imagery from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission to demonstrate its ability to map intertidal seagrass meadows and their seasonal changes across continents with consistency and precision.

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