2026/03/19 by Hanna Brum François Amaral, Margareth Copertino, Joel Christopher Creed · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Coastal and Marine Management #Marine and coastal plant biology #Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds
paper · pdf · doi:10.3897/emt.3.186569
openalex publication_date 2026/03/19 · openalex created_date 2026/03/20 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Coastal lagoons (CLs) are important ecosystems that perform relevant ecological functions and provide goods and services essential to human well-being. Lagoons occupy 13% of the planet’s coastal area, but due to intense urbanization of their surroundings, they are among the most threatened ecosystems globally. Macroalgae play an important role in ecosystem functioning and are widely used as effective bioindicators for environmental monitoring. Despite this we know little about the distribution of CLs in Brazil and less about the macroalgae they may contain. We mapped lagoons using Google Earth and assessed macroalgae presence through a systematic literature review (September 2021–March 2022) of five databases and two languages using the keywords: (alga OR seaweed) AND (lagoon) AND (Brasil* OR Brazil*). We identified 300 unevenly distributed lagoons along the Brazilian coast with little floristic similarity. The Rio Grande ecoregion had the highest concentration of CLs (n = 124), followed by the northeast and southeast; three of 17 coastal states had none. We catalogued 213 macroalgae taxa in 48 studies across only 11 lagoons, with little similarity among lagoons. Most research focused on two, the Patos and Araruama Lagoons. The lack of studies of macroalgae represents a significant knowledge gap for Brazil’s coastal zone — we don’t know if these lagoons are highly unique (high beta diversity) or simply understudied. We encourage more targeted research on lagoons such as the PELD long-term monitoring programs so that the flora may be used for monitoring ecological status.