On many low-tide mornings, Caitlin Magel traverses the platinum-blue shallows of South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve on Oregon’s south coast, counting silky shoots of eelgrass.
This underappreciated seagrass—one of the few flowering marine plants in the world—provides nursery habitat for crabs, salmon, and other wildlife that help support coastal fishing communities. Eelgrass also absorbs carbon and stores it in its shoots and roots. And by pulling carbon dioxide out of the water during photosynthesis, eelgrass also acts as a buffer against ocean acidification, says Magel, who is quantifying some of these benefits as part of her doctoral research at Oregon State University.