Biodiversity of Seaweeds in the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most highly valued seas in the world. The region comprises a vast set of coastal and marine ecosystems that provide a variety of different services that are crucial for human well-being. Since the mid-twentieth century, water pollution became a serious problem due to increasing of industrialisation, coastal population, and tourism along several Mediterranean coastal areas. Pollution in the Mediterranean tends to persists near its source of discharge due to relatively weak tidal and current movements. Likewise, the Egyptian Mediterranean coastal areas suffer from degradation of water quality, and many hot spot areas are designated there, which had drastic effects on seaweeds biodiversity and other marine organisms. This chapter attempts to track changes that happened in the seaweeds community over more than 60 years along the coast of the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea.