What the study found
Seagrass in Mosquito Lagoon, Florida, was almost absent before the 2022 hurricanes, then declined further until March 2023 before recovering to pre-collapse levels in summer 2023 and afterward. The authors report that this recovery followed Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that constant seagrass monitoring is needed in Mosquito Lagoon to support conservation of the ecosystem. They also suggest the hurricane events may have helped spread seagrass fragments and changed water conditions, although they say more research is needed to explain the recovery.
What the researchers tested
The researchers used semi-monthly Harmonized Landsat Sentinel imagery from September 2022 to January 2024. They built a Random Forest Classification model for each date to estimate seagrass presence and density in Mosquito Lagoon.
What worked and what didn't
The method identified seagrass even when it was present in limited quantities, and the average model accuracy was 84%. Across dates, observed seagrass density ranged from 0% to 20.32%.
What to keep in mind
The abstract says the cause of the recovery is not yet known, and more research is needed to determine why seagrass recovered to this extent. The summary also notes that model accuracy varied depending on how much seagrass was present.
Key points
- Seagrass in Mosquito Lagoon was almost non-existent before the 2022 hurricanes.
- Seagrass kept declining until March 2023, then returned to pre-collapse levels in summer 2023 and later.
- The study used a Random Forest Classification on semi-monthly Harmonized Landsat Sentinel imagery from September 2022 to January 2024.
- Average model accuracy was 84%, and the method worked well for detecting small amounts of seagrass.
- The authors say more research is needed to explain the recovery and that ongoing monitoring is important.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Seagrass recovered in Mosquito Lagoon after 2022 hurricanes
- Authors:
- Stephanie A. Insalaco, Hannah V. Herrero, Hailey F. Vickich, Dominic B. Mashak
- Institutions:
- Southwestern University, Southwestern University, Southwestern University, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
- Publication date:
- 2026-04-21
- OpenAlex record:
- View
Get the weekly research newsletter
Stay current with scholarly research without reading academic papers — one filtered digest, every Friday.