Why are manatees important to the ecosystem? This is a question that gets asked frequently because some people see manatees as ‘unimportant’ to the ecosystem and environment and don’t understand why they are important. Additionally, there’s a myth floating around that manatees are invasive to Florida. This is false, manatees are native to Florida. Currently, manatees are listed as threatened, previously listed as endangered. They were moved from endangered to threatened in 2017. They have no known predators, except humans. Manatees are a vital part of the ecosystem and environment and let me tell you why.

1. Manatees eat invasive plant species, like water hyacinth. There are many invasive plant species in Florida. Invasive plants, when let to overgrow, can wreak havoc on the ecosystem and can even outcompete native plant species.
2. Manatees help maintain the health of seagrass beds. Most of a manatees diet is made up of seagrass. Due to this, they help maintain the health of the seagrass beds and prevent overgrowth.
3. Manatees fertilize sea grasses and aquatic plants. Manatee excretions actually help fertilize not only sea grass beds, but other aquatic plants.
4. Manatees are considered a keystone species in Florida. A keystone species means that without it the ecosystem would suffer greatly and this implies that many other species rely on manatees.

Currently, the biggest threat to manatees are watercraft collisions (another blog post about that coming soon). I hope this clears up the common misconception that manatees aren’t important or ‘not worth saving’.