Underwater

Flowering Plants
Seagrass Communities of the Florida Keys
Aimee Gawroniak
[Class, Semester]
[Teacher Name]
[Insert Date]

Aimee Gawroniak
[Class, Semester]
[Teacher Name]
[Insert Date]

Underwater Flowering Plants

Seagrass Communities of the Florida Keys
Introduction
Seagrasses are the only flowering plants that live their entire lives under completely
and obligately in seawater. Seagrass communities represent one of the most important
communities on Earth. Present in estuaries, lagoons, and shallow open shelves off the coast
of Florida. An important habitat of the near shore marine system, seagrass communities
are home to large populations of invertebrates and fishes and provide the richest nursery
and feeding ground. They also help maintain clarity by trapping fine sediments and
particles with their leaves and stabilize the bottom with their roots and rhizomes.
General Ecology
Seagrasses get their energy from photosynthesis and so must live in shallow water
touched by the sun. The depth at which seagrass are found is limited by water clarity,
which determines the amount of light reaching the plant. They grow into lush meadows not
just by reaching their blades toward light but also by stretching its root out and sideways.
Many stems in a meadow are a single plant, connected underground by their rhizomes
system. A variety of sediments, from fine muds to coarse sands, support their growth. Once

Underwater Flowering Plants

Seagrasses are established, they greatly influence local sedimentation. Deposition of fine
inorganic and organic particles is facilitated by the effect of the Seagrass blades, the
entrapment of waterborne particles in epiphytic growth on the Seagrass, the production of
particles within the grass beds, and the binding and stabilizing of the substrate by the root
and rhizome system.
Sediment depth plays an important role in nutrient dynamics in the Seagrass beds,
for deeper sediments allow more extensive development of roots and rhizomes. Further
more, extensive root systems are needed to sustain growth in sediments that contain few
nutrients. Studies on turtle grass in Puerto Rico found that the ratio of leaf to rhizome
diminished as sediment became coarser.
Species of Seagrass in the Florida Keys
There are 52 species of sea grass currently known worldwide. Six of these occur in
Florida. The three of the most significance are as listed below.
1. Turtle grass(Thalassia testudinum)- The major species in the in the meadows of
south and west Florida. Its large, ribbon-like leaves grow 4-12mm wide and 1035cm long. Two to five leaves per shoot grow from stout rhizomes that may be
found as deep as 25cm in the sediment. Turtle Grass is temperature limited and
does not occur.
2. Manatee grass(Syringodium filiforme)- Commonly found in mixed sea grass beds
or in small, dense monospecific patches. Its leaves are string-like: round in cross-

Underwater Flowering Plants

section, about 1mm in diameter, and up to 50cm long. Compared to Turtle Grass, the
rhizomes are less robust and seldom penetrate as deep into the sediment.
3. Shoal grass(Halodule wrightii)- An early colonizer of disturbed areas, the blade of
shoal grass are typically 1-3mm wide and 10-20cm long, with two or three points.
Usually grows in water too shallow for other species. Can colonize thin sediments.
Most commonly located in the inlets along the east coast.

Underwater Flowering Plants

Seagrass Communities
Seagrass communities offer food, shelter, and essential nursery areas to commercial
and recreational fishery species, and to the countless invertebrates that reside there. The
complexity of seagrass habitats increases when several species of seagrass grow together,
concealing juvenile fish, smaller finfish, and benthic invertebrates such as crustaceans,
bivalves, echinoderms, and other groups. Juvenile stages of many fish species spend their
early days in its relative safety and protection. In addition, seagrass communities provide
protection to the infaunal organisms living within the substratum as seagrass rhizomes
intermingle to form dense networks of underground runners that deter predators from
digging infaunal prey from the substratum. Also, seagrass provides attachment sites for
small microalgae and epiphytic organisms such as sponges, bryozoans, forams, and other
taxa.
Organisms associated with Seagrass beds
The invertebrate fauna is exceedingly rich in sea grass communities of south
Florida. Larger epibenthis organisms include the queen conch (Strombus gigas) and other
gastropods, the West Indian sea star (Oreaster retiiculata), sea urchins, sea cucumbers,
pink shrimp (Penaues duorarum), and spiny lobster (Panulirus argus). A few corals (e.g,

Manicina areolata and Porites furcate) and sponges can be found. Infauna includes a
variety of clams and annelid worms. A multitude of small crustaceans lives on or in the
epiphytes and sediments.

Underwater Flowering Plants

Sea grass meadows are inhabited or visited by a diverse and abundant fish fauna.
Resident fishes are typically small, cryptic, and of little commercial value. Seasonal
residents spend their juvenile, sub-adult, or spawning season feeding in the grass beds.
Commercially and recreationally important drums, sea bass, porgies, grunts, snappers, and
mojarras use sea grass meadows as nursery grounds. Coral reefs near sea grass beds
shelter animals like snappers and lobster that feed in the meadows at night.
Some higher vertebrates can also be found in sea grass meadows. Turtle
grass was named for its appeal to green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). Manatee (Trichechus

manatus), bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncates), and a variety of wading and diving
birds also use sea grass beds as feeding grounds.

Underwater Flowering Plants

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Value
Seagrasses have potential for extremely high primary productivity. Values of .9 to 16
g C m-2 day -1 have been reported in South Florida. That production is available to other
organisms by direct grazing and as detritus and dissolved organic carbon.
More than 85% of the 10,00km square of Seagrass in the Gulf of Mexico occurs in
Florida waters. 5500km square of Seagrass bed are found in the warm, shallow waters of
Florida Bay and adjacent to the Florida coral reef tract. Between Cape sable, north Biscayne
Bay and the Dry Tortugas, nearly 80% of the sea bottom is covered in seagrass beds.
Stabilization and Water Clarity
Ocean bottom areas that are devoid of seagrass are vulnerable to intense wave
action from currents and storms. The extensive root system in seagrasses, which extends
both vertically and horizontally, helps stabilize the sea bottom in a manner similar to the
way land grasses prevent soil erosion. With no seagrasses to diminish the force of the
currents along the bottom, Florida's beaches, businesses, and homes can be subject to
greater damage from storms.
Seagrasses help trap fine sediments and particles that are suspended in the
water column, which increases water clarity. When a sea floor area lacks seagrass
communities, the sediments are more frequently stirred by wind and waves, decreasing
water clarity, affecting marine animal behavior, and generally decreasing the recreational
quality of coastal areas. Seagrasses also work to filter nutrients that come from land-based

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industrial discharge and storm water runoff before these nutrients are washed out to sea
and to other sensitive habitats such as coral reefs.

Underwater Flowering Plants

Conclusion
Seagrasses are submerged flowering plants found in shallow marine waters, such as
bays and lagoons and along the continental shelf of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. A vital
part of the marine ecosystem due to their productivity level, seagrasses provide food,
habitat, and nursery areas for numerous vertebrate and invertebrate species. The vast
biodiversity and sensitivity to changes in water quality inherent in seagrass communities
makes seagrasses an important species to help determine the overall health of coastal
ecosystems.

Underwater Flowering Plants

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