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Assessing Seagrass Field-Mapping Techniques In The Napatree / Sandy Point Eelgrass Meadow
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2021
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[PDF-7.49 MB]
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Description:Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is a rooted, flowering perennial plant that occurs in shallow waters in the coastal zone. Eelgrass obtains nutrients (especially Nitrogen) from the subaqueous soils that they grow in, as well as removing nutrients from the water column. Through photosynthesis, eelgrass produces large quantities of oxygen. One square meter of eelgrass can produce 10 liters of oxygen in a day. Eelgrass meadows perform many important ecosystem services (Burdick et al., 2020; Reynolds 2018; Bradley et al. 2013). They clean our waters by absorbing nutrients and provide habitat to a host of organisms. Juvenile fish of many species that are important to our commercial and recreational fisheries safely hide from predators in the dense eelgrass vegetation. Invertebrates live on the grass blades and are food for larger animals. The seagrass beds off Napatree are important for our wildlife too. Terns feed on the small fish, Osprey feed on the larger fish, and the Brant Geese that are so abundant off Napatree in the winter are vegetarians and graze on the eelgrass itself. In terms of ecosystem services, seagrass beds are the third most productive ecosystem on the planet (after estuaries, like Little Narragansett Bay, and wetlands).
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Rights Information:Public Domain
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Compliance:Submitted
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