Seagrass ecosystems reduce disease risk and economic loss in marine farming production

Seaweed farming comprises over half of global coastal and marine aquaculture production by mass, however the future of the industry is increasingly threatened by disease outbreaks. Nature-based solutions provided by enhancing functions of coinciding species or ecosystems offer an opportunity to increase yields by reducing disease outbreaks while conserving biodiversity. Seagrass ecosystems can reduce the abundance of marine bacterial pathogens, although it remains unknown whether this service can extend to reducing disease risk in a marine resource. Using a meta-analysis of articles published over the past 40 years, we find that 17 known diseases of seaweeds are associated with bacteria that have been previously shown to be lower when associated with seagrass ecosystems. Next, we surveyed over 8,000 individual seaweeds among farms in Indonesia and found disease risk is reduced by 75% when seaweeds are co-cultivated directly within seagrass ecosystems, compared to when seagrass ecosystem..., Fieldwork was conducted at 16 seaweed farms along the southwest coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia, where seaweed is currently co-cultivated in coastal areas directly within intact seagrass ecosystems and where seagrass ecosystems naturally occur, but have been removed. The estimated economic value of disease risk reduction associated with the co-cultivation of seaweed with seagrass ecosystems and global geographic suitability is briefly described in each figure legend. Full materials and methods, including mechanisms of seagrass filtration can be found in the SI Appendix., , # Seagrass ecosystems reduce disease risk and economic loss in marine farming production

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.905qfttsz](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.905qfttsz)

This dataset contains the required information to determine the influence of seagrasses on diseases of the seaweed, Kappaphycus sp., associated environmental drivers, global cultivation area, and potential economic benefit of seagrass-seaweed co-culture. The main data file, Combined Disease and Environment Dataset.csv, is a result of seaweed disease surveys conducted on farms in Indonesia that did and didn't remove seagrass from cultivation areas. Other files are based on existing literature and methodology to determine potentail co-cultivation area and economic consequences.

## Description of the data and file structure

Files:
Combined Disease and Environment Dataset.csv - contains disease and environmental parameters from surveys conducted on seaweeds growing in Indonesian farms. All environmental parameters we...