The WFSU Ecology Blog
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Tate’s Hell & the Apalachicola River Delta |...
Kayak Scouting Mission on the Ochlockonee Water Trail
Merritt’s Mill Pond | Kayaking and Spring Caves

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
    • Backyard Blog
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      • The Backyard Bug Blog 2018
    • 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

Seagrass Bed

by Rob Diaz de Villegas January 30, 2012
Seagrass Bed

Browse past “In the (Sea) Grass” posts here.

Seagrass beds are extremely productive ecosystems. Providing habitat for an abundance of commercially important fish species, seagrass beds also act as nurseries for many animals until they grow large enough to move into other coastal habitats, such as salt marshes and oyster reefs. Both of the major research efforts conducted by Dr. Randall Hughes and Dr. David Kimbro, their biodiversity and biogeographic studies, have touched on seagrass beds. Acting as carbon sinks, seagrass beds also capture and store carbon for thousands of years. As seagrasses decline, the carbon is slowly released back into the atmosphere and animals relying on the seagrass beds are also at risk.

Saint Joseph Bay seagrass bedSeagrass Beds and Blue Carbon
Dr. Peter MacReadie visits Randall Hughes in Saint Joseph Bay and explains how seagrass beds benefit humans. This ecosystem also acts as a carbon sink. As seagrass beds decline, they release this carbon back into the air, which could have longterm implications for our environment.

Horse Conch on Bay Mouth BarBay Mouth Bar – Where Everything is Hungry
An introduction to Bay Mouth Bar.  This seagrass bed system becomes exposed during a few low tides a month.  It contains the largest diversity of predatory snails in the world.  Their eating each other, and clams, has consequences on a clam’s ability to filter water.  If that water isn’t filtered, it may negatively affect the seagrass bed.

True Tulip Snail eating a Banded Tulip SnailPredator Diversity Loss at Bay Mouth Bar
Loss of predator diversity is becoming a worldwide trend. Comparing recent samplings to those conducted in the 1950’s shows a few changes in the predator lineup of Bay Mouth Bar. Tanya Rogers investigates: are more predators better on the seagrass beds of Bay Mouth Bar?

seagrasswithfish

Meet the species of Bay Mouth Bar.

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iNaturalist

iNaturalist became a part of the WFSU Ecology Blog during the EcoCitizen Project in 2019.  Since then, we’ve used it to help identify the many plants and animals we see on our shoots.  And on the Backyard Blog, we show how it can be used to identify weeds and garden insects, to help figure out what’s beneficial or a possible pest.  Below is the iNaturalist profile belonging to WFSU Ecology producer Rob Diaz de Villegas.

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