In addition to elucidating how maize provided a dietary foundation for ancient civilizations like the Maya, such studies can also aid in understanding and improving
commercially important lines of modern maize, the researchers say.
They provide essential breeding grounds and nurseries for
commercially important fish; mangroves and the adjacent seagrass beds retain and filter sediment from river runoff, increasing the clarity of water on the reefs; they are the first
line of storm defence, absorbing the power of the wind.