Shifts in biodiversity and physical structure of seagrass beds across 5 decades at Carriacou, Grenadines

erosional scarps occurred, confirmed by observation well beyond the last scarp. Direction was maintained using a compass or by reference to two aligned markers on the shore. Transects were conducted within 1–2 h of low tide when low current and high visibility optimized sam- pling. Distances and depths along transects were measured with a calibrated 2-m pole sequen- tially flipped in the horizontal direction and vertically positioned at 10-m intervals, or less where there were abrupt changes in depth; a depth gauge was used for depths > 2 m. Depth Fig 1. Sites where seagrass beds were sampled at Carriacou. Sampling stations (S) were distributed across representative seagrass beds around the island (green circles); transects (T) were sampled at low wave energy (orange triangles) and high wave energy (red triangles) sites. See S1 Table for GPS coordinates and additional site description. Also shown is a diagrammatic representation of coral reefs around Carriacou and surrounding islands, after [37]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306897.g001 PLOS ONE Seagrass bed biodiversity and structure and across 5 decades PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306897 August 1, 2024 4 / 25