Pollution and human induced changes in the flow of fresh water to these areas are having a great effect on shallow marine or estuarine rooted vascular beds.
Rooted vascular beds include a large array of vascular species in the Marine and Estuarine Systems. They have been referred as temperate grass flats, tropical marine meadows, eelgrass beds, turtlegrass beds, and seagrass beds. Submerged vascular plants began a worldwide decline in the 1930s.