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The WFSU Ecology Blog

  • Home
    • About
    • EcoAdventures
      • Kayak and Canoe Adventures
      • Hiking
      • Wildlife Watching
    • Observations From the Field
      • White Pelicans Visit Dr. Charles L. Evans Pond in Tallahassee
      • An April Walk at Ochlockonee River WMA
      • Nesting Raptors at Honeymoon Island State Park
    • WFSU Public Media Home
  • Documentaries
    • In Their Words: Black Legacy Communities in North Florida
    • EcoCitizen Show | Seasons in South Tallahassee
    • Red Wolf Family Celebrates First Year at the Tallahassee Museum
    • Roaming the Red Hills
    • Oyster Doctors
    • Testing the Ecology of Fear
    • EcoShakespeare
    • Stories from the Apalachicola
    • Classic WFSU Ecology Documentaries
  • Habitats
    • Estuaries
      • Oyster Reef
        • The Effects of Predators and Fear on Oyster Reefs
        • Apalachicola Oyster Research
        • Animal Species in a North Florida Intertidal Oyster Reef
        • Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef
      • Salt Marsh
        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
        • Plants and Animals of a North Florida Salt Marsh
        • Salt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass
      • Seagrass Bed
        • Predatory Snails, and Prey, of the Bay Mouth Bar Seagrass Beds
      • In the Grass, On the Reef Glossary
    • Waterways Big and Small
      • Aucilla/ Wacissa Watershed
      • Apalachicola Basin
        • Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines | Virtual Field Trip
        • The Age of Nature Screening & Discussion | The Future of the Apalachicola
        • Apalachicola River and Bay
        • Apalachicola RiverTrek | Kayaking, Camping, & Hiking the River Basin
    • Longleaf Pine & Fire Ecology
  • Backyard Habitat
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    • Backyard Flora and Fauna
      • Bees of North Florida and South Georgia
      • The Seasonality of Bees (and Bee Plants) in North Florida
      • Woody Vines of North Florida
      • Flies of North Florida are More Diverse than You’d Think
      • The Case for Weeds, Our Unsung Florida Native Plants
      • Devil’s Walkingstick: Your New Favorite Thorny Pollinator Plant?
      • Florida Native Milkweed | Tips for Growing Your Monarch Friendly Garden
      • Mistletoe | A Parasite for the Holidays (But Maybe We Like it Anyway?)
    • Florida Friendly Seasonal Planting Guide
    • Pollinator and Gardening Posts
    • Gardening Web Resources
Seagrasses and Sand Flats

Seagrass Awareness Month

by Rob Diaz de Villegas March 20, 2011
by Rob Diaz de Villegas March 20, 2011 0 comment

A listing of the animals seen in the slideshow is at the end of this post.

IGOR chip- habitat 150March is Seagrass Awareness Month, so it seems a fitting time to share some photos we took last fall.  Seagrass beds are an under-appreciated habitat; they’re very productive and are more important than meets the eye (here I admit that neither seagrass beds or salt marshes seemed all that interesting to me until I actually went into them and took a closer look).  Here are a few quick facts:

  • Approximately 85% of commercial and recreationally fished species in Florida spend some time in a seagrass bed.
  • Of the 60 or so seagrass species, turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) is the dominant in Florida- it’s the species of grass in the slideshow above.
  • Seagrass meadows absorb 10-15% of the carbon absorbed by the ocean, which overall absorbs about 25% of global carbon emissions.
  • Like salt marshes, seagrass beds slow waves and accrue sediment.  The wave absorption protects shorelines from being battered and the sediment filtered from the water helps clean it.
  • As sited earlier by Randall, a recent study has shown that 58% of seagrass habitats are in decline.  If you look at all of the services provided by these habitats, you can see that this is cause for concern.

We should have a video on seagrass beds soon, as part of a new endeavor we are undertaking (stay tuned).  In the meantime, I refer you back to Randall’s post on seagrass beds and epiphytic algae, and her post (with a video hosted by graduate student Emily Field) on Emily’s study of seagrass wrack, the blades of grass that slough off and impact other systems such as salt marshes.  For more information Seagrass Awareness Month, visit the Florida Department of Environmental Protection web site.

P1010282

The animals in the slideshow above are, in order (and excluding fish):

  1. Bay Scallop (4th pic)
  2. Sea Star (5th and 6th pics)
  3. Spider Crab (8th and 9th pics)
  4. Crown Conch (10th pic)
  5. Lightning Whelk egg case (11th pic- these are similar to crown conch egg cases)
  6. Sea Urchin (14th pic)
  7. Horse Conch (15th pic)

We will have a Meet the Species page for North Florida Seagrass Beds up soon.

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coastal ecologycrown conchforgotten coastgulf of mexicohabitat provisionhorse conchmarine ecologynaturescallopsea starsea urchinseagrass bedsspider crabSt. Joe BaySt. Joseph Baystill photographyturtlegrass
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Rob Diaz de Villegas

Rob Diaz de Villegas is a senior producer for WFSU-TV, covering outdoors and ecology. After years of producing the music program OutLoud, Rob found himself in a salt marsh with a camera, and found a new professional calling as well. That project, the National Science Foundation funded "In the Grass, On the Reef," spawned the award winning WFSU Ecology Blog. Now he spends time exploring north Florida's forests, coasts, waterways, and the endlessly fascinating ecosystem that is the backyard garden. Rob is married with two young sons, who make a pretty fantastic adventure squad.

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