They've been around since the time of dinosaurs, and are more closely related to lilies and gingers than to true grasses. Seagrasses are the only flowering plants that can live underwater, and are the main diet of dugongs and green turtles, and provide a habitat for many, smaller marine animals. But we are losing seagrass rapidly, and the misconception that seagrasses are inconsequential is further leading to their decline. On this month's episode of The ABC's of Biodiversity, we give props to this grossly undervalued part of our ecosystem, with Dr Jillian Ooi, a Marine Ecologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Malaya. Dr Jillian was recently awarded a three-year fellowship to study the growth of seagrass meadows and how to better restore this vital part of marine ecosystems, by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

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