Zostera muelleri

Zostera muelleri is a southern hemisphere temperate species of seagrass native to the seacoasts of South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.Paul Friedrich August Ascherson. 1867. Linnaea 35: 168 Zostera muelleri Paul Friedrich August Ascherson. 1867. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin : 15. Zostera muelleri and New Zealand. Today, Zostera muelleri can be found in regions of Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, as well as areas of the eastern Indian Ocean, and the southwest and western central Pacific Ocean. Zostera muelleri is a marine angiosperm, and is commonly referred to as eelgrass or garweed. It is a fast growing and readily colonizing species that serves as a feeding ground for wading birds and aquatic animals, and a breeding ground for juvenile fish and shrimp species. Seagrasses are a flowering plant species, not to be confused with seaweed, which do not form flowers, fruits, and seeds to reproduce. Seagrasses are important to the marine ecosystem for many reasons. For one, they provide food, homes, and breeding grounds to a variety of marine species. Secondly, meadows of seagrass are important carbon reservoirs or sinks, sequestering 10-18% of the ocean's carbon accumulation for long-term storage. Seagrasses also enhance sediment accretion, and protect coastlines from destructive wave energy.

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