Historical review of seagrass research in the Philippines

This historical account of seagrass research in the Philippines includes an advancement in the effort of more than four decades of scientific research in the country. The studies started with the taxonomy, distribution, and structural accounts of selected species, and continuing at present, with ecology, physiology, metabolism, and responses to environmental and climate change impacts. Advocacy on the importance of seagrass to local economy and the environment was initiated by the publications, which pointed to the Indo-West Pacific affinities of Philippine seagrasses, its status as a habitat under stress in East Asia, and its environmental and management perspectives in the region. With the works published primarily from projects funded by the European Union, which dealt with basic scientific data useful as guides to sound coastal developmental activities, a shift in direction of seagrass research towards addressing environmental issues commenced. The shifting needs of the times, aggravated principally by an alarming reduction and loss in resources resulting from a decline in coastal water quality and degradation of the environment, dictated a corresponding shift in seagrass research focus from basic to its applications, from purely scientific initiatives to those that now require support and collaboration from social and behavioral sciences.Proceedings of the Horiba International Conference "New Direction of Ocean Research in the Western Pacific" : Past, Present and Future of UNESCO/IOC/WESTPAC Activity for 50 years and the JSPS Project "Coastal Marine Science"Section II: Historical Review of Coastal Research in Southeast Asi