A dry 2015 triggers seagrass die-off in Florida Bay

A mass die-off of seagrass occurred in Florida Bay in 2015. Thousands of acres of seagrass meadows, up to 20 percent of the total, died abruptly leaving entire basins denuded and carpeted with decaying biomass. The event echoed a major die-off that occurred in Florida Bay in 1987. Except, this time water managers had a greater understanding of what was happening based on previous research into the causes of the 1987 die-off and monitoring data that allowed a timely assessment of current conditions in the ecosystem. Therefore, managers were able to act quickly to limit the lasting impact of the 2015 die-off event.