In recent years, rising summer temperatures have caused large-scale diebacks of eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows in parts of the lower Chesapeake Bay, shifting these once-stable habitats toward lower-density, ephemeral states. These losses threaten the vital ecosystem services that eelgrass provides, from supporting fisheries to stabilizing shorelines. With climate change accelerating, coastal managers and restoration practitioners increasingly recognize that long-term eelgrass restoration success must account for the species’ resilience to thermal stress. However, critical knowledge gaps remain about which eelgrass populations may be best suited for future restoration under warming conditions.

To help fill these gaps, this project compared eelgrass populations in Virginia and North Carolina to identify traits and genetic markers associated with thermal resilience. The team conducted genomic analyses and reciprocal transplant experiments to evaluate how different populations respond to heat stress and to test which seed sources might perform better under future climate scenarios. In this webinar, project collaborators will share key findings from this work and introduce several practical products developed through the project, including an eelgrass restoration decision-making framework, a standard operating procedure (SOP) for seed-based restoration, and guidance for integrating genomic data into management decisions.