SCOR Working Group 158

Coordinated Global Research Assessment of Seagrass System (C-GRASS)

Chair(s)
J. Emmett Duffy (USA), Chris McOwen (UK) (replaces Sara Pruckner and Lauren Weatherdon)
Other Full Members
Rohani Ambo-Rappe (Indonesia), Leanne Cullen-Unsworth (UK), Miguel Fortes (Philippines), Núria Marbà (Spain), Len McKenzie (Australia), Chris Roelfsema (Australia), Fred Short (USA), Jacqueline Uku (Kenya)
Associate Members
Rod Connolly (Australia), Maricela de la Torre Castro (Sweden), Heidi Dierssen (USA), Carlos Duarte (Saudi Arabia), James W. Fourqurean (USA), Margot Hessing-Lewis (Canada), Frank Muller-Karger (USA), Masahiro Nakaoka (Japan), Anchana Prathep (Thailand), Richard Unsworth (UK)
Reporter
Stefano Aliani
Terms of Reference
  1. Produce a scientific synthesis of status and trends in global seagrasses and the systems they support, via a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed and gray literature, and unpublished data, on seagrass occurrence, ecosystem characteristics, and benefits to human well-being.

  2. Produce a handbook of standard protocols and best practices for collecting, curating, and sharing data on seagrass ecosystems among scientists and stakeholder groups, building on existing experience of scientists and end-users in management and conservation, and contributed to the Ocean Data Standards and Best Practices Project of IODE.

  3. Promote development of standardized vocabularies for variables and data schemas specific to seagrass ecosystems, and integration of existing and new data into the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) using the EVENT-DATA schema.

  4. Organize an interdisciplinary community of practice to synthesize data on status, trends, and drivers of global change in seagrass ecosystems, building on and integrating existing resources.

Approved
September 2019
Financial Sponsors
SCOR, NSF
Meetings
  1. October 2020 (online)

  2. December 2020 (online)

  3. January 2021 (online)

  4. February 2021 (online)

  5. March 2021 (online)

  6. April 2021 (online)

  7. October 2021 (online)

  8. March 2022 (online)

  9. 13-14 August 2022, Annapolis, MD, USA

  10. July 2023 in Penang, Malaysia