Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Eelgrass, one of the most abundant coastal marine plants in the Northern Hemisphere, is experiencing rapid declines across much of its range. Habitat created by eelgrass meadows is characterized by high biodiversity and provides important nursery grounds for numerous fished species. Eelgrass wasting disease, caused by infection of eelgrass with the intracellular protist Labyrinthula zosterae causes both chronic and acute infections in eelgrass that have, in some cases, been associated with meadow-scale declines. Eelgrass wasting disease influences the community ecology of eelgrass meadows, and specific functional groups including grazers, filter-feeders and leaf surface microbiomes, may influence the epidemiology of this disease. Effects of these taxa on eelgrass and eelgrass wasting disease are complex, spanning different levels of biological organization. Disentangling the mechanisms and understanding their net effects require a suite of coordinated field, laboratory, and modeling efforts. This synthesis of the current knowledge is intended to help build a foundational understanding of eelgrass wasting disease within a community context and stimulate research that yields new restoration and conservation strategies to improve resilience of critical and declining eelgrass habitat.</jats:p>