Chairs: Savanna Barry, Laura Reynolds, Kelly Darnell, Patrick Biber, Rebecca Prado, Larry Handley, Don Blancher, Dominique Gallery

 Date and time: Tuesday, May 05 at 10:30am to Wednesday, May 06 at 3:00pm

 location: 203A

 Description: Seagrass meadows are foundational to Gulf ecosystem health, supporting biodiversity, stabilizing sediments, improving water quality, and providing critical nursery habitat for commercially and ecologically important species. Yet, these habitats face mounting threats from storm impacts, declining water quality, and anthropogenic disturbances such as boat propeller scarring. Many state and federal agencies throughout Gulf are interested in and need up-to-date data and maps of seagrass resources. The SAV Community of Practice has been active many years in the Gulf region to help share such information, resources, and data. Updates to current and ongoing initiatives will be presented during this session.

These initiatives include, but are not limited to (1) Florida seagrass restoration efforts as part of the development of a Florida Seagrass Restoration Plan under the Seagrass Restoration Technology Development Initiative (F.S. 403.9334); (2) interdisciplinary projects to explore innovative approaches to seagrass protection, restoration, and management, specifically the ChIRPS (Chandeleur Islands Restoration Project for Seagrasses) and SCAR MAPS (Seagrass Conservation through Actionable Research and Management Areas for the Prevention of Scarring); and (3) work on revisions for a new Seagrass Status and Trends report with a target release date of 2030. Presentations on the current and completed progress towards these initiatives are invited to present.

This session will bring together insights from multiple efforts to explore innovative approaches to seagrass protection, restoration, and management across the Gulf. We encourage talks that support topics such as data-driven restoration strategies informed by genetic and ecological research and monitoring, cutting edge remote sensing and AI tools for habitat assessment and scar mapping, end-user perceptions and behavioral insights to guide management actions, and lessons learned from interdisciplinary collaborations across Gulf regions.

Tuesday, May 5, 2026
Building Resilient Seagrass Communities in Florida: Advancing Technology and Strategy for a 10-Year Restoration Vision10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Status of a Habitat Suitability Model for Florida Bay10:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Genetic diversity of Halodule wrightii, the shoal grass, across Florida’s Gulf Coast11:00 AM - 11:15 AM
Testing variation in stress tolerance and restoration potential of seagrass subpopulations11:15 AM - 11:30 AM
Does higher genetic variation in seagrass beds confer greater resilience to heat stress?11:30 AM - 11:45 AM
A Collaborative Approach to Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Restoration to Ensure Future Ecosystem Services in Florida11:45 AM - 12:00 PM
From Scars to Solutions: End-User Driven Research for Seagrass Conservation and Management1:30 PM - 1:45 PM
Multi-scale effects of boat propeller disturbance on seagrass function, structure, and species interactions1:45 PM - 2:00 PM
Propeller Scarring of Seagrass in the Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve: Exploring AI detection and mapping methods to inform managers.2:00 PM - 2:15 PM
Integrating multiple data streams to inform seagrass management actions in Florida’s Nature Coast2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
Long term Management for FL's seagrass - Joint Round table discussion2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Seagrass Status and Trends 2030 report: Update and Next Steps10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Mapping SAV habitats across Coastal Alabama11:00 AM - 11:15 AM
Spatial Patterns in Seagrass Reproductive Effort at the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana11:15 AM - 11:30 AM
Seagrass status and trends at the Chandeleur Islands, LA11:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Drivers of Seagrass Decline at the Chandeleur Islands: Insights from Field Data, Remote Sensing, and Numerical Modeling11:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Integrating Seagrass Genetic Diversity and Connectivity into Management across the Gulf1:30 PM - 1:45 PM
Understanding drivers of change in seagrass ecosystems to inform management of critical habitats in the Gulf Islands National Seashore1:45 PM - 2:00 PM
Identifying Knowledge Gaps in Wave-Seagrass Interactions: Understanding Hydrodynamic Thresholds.2:00 PM - 2:15 PM
Carbon dynamics of Subtropical Seagrass Meadows of the Mississippi Barrier Islands2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
Gulf-wide Restoration Lessons Learned - Joint Round table discussion2:30 PM - 3:00 PM