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The spatial structure of seagrass landscapes is typically ascribed to the direct influence of physical factors such as hydrodynamics, light, and sediment transport. We studied regularly interspaced banded patterns, formed by elongated patches of seagrass, in a small‐scale intertidal ecosystem. We investigated (1) whether the observed spatial patterns may arise from feedback interactions between seagrass and its abiotic environment and (2) whether changes in abiotic conditions may lead to predictable changes in these spatial patterns. Field measurements, experiments, and a spatially explicit computer model identified a “scale‐dependent feedback” (a mechanism for spatial self‐organization) as a possible cause for the banded patterns. Increased protection from uprooting by improved anchoring with increasing seagrass density caused a local positive feedback. Sediment erosion around seagrass shoots …