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MASSACHUSETTS DEP EELGRASS
Description:
Field verified points showing presence or absence of submerged rooted vascular plants along Massachusetts coastline. In addition to the photo interpreted eelgrass coverage (EELGRASS), this point coverage (EGRASVPT) was generated based on field-verified sites as well as all field-verified observations of widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) and algae. Seagrass beds are critical wetlands components of shallow coastal ecosystems throughout the state. Seagrass beds provide food and cover for a great variety of commercially and recreationally important fauna and their prey. The leaf canopy of the seagrass bed calms the water, filters suspended matter and together with extensive roots and rhizomes, stabilizes sediment. Eelgrass, Zostera marina, is the dominant seagrass present on the Massachusetts coastline. Another species, widgeon grass, Ruppia maritima, is present in areas of less salinity along the Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay coast. These seagrasses (and others not present in Mass.) are collectively categorized as submersed rooted vascular beds (SRV). SRV are phototrophic plants requiring sunlight to conduct photosynthesis. The depth limit for SRV is a function of the penetration of light sufficient for net photosynthesis by these autotrophic rooted plants. In the more turbid waters of portions of Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod, this depth limit is less than 3 meters mean lower low water (MLLW). In the clearer waters of Nantucket Sound and the North Shore the depth limit is greater than 6 meters MLLW. The Massachusetts DEP Wetlands Conservancy Program (WCP) maintains the eelgrass data. Updates are planned to be conducted on a 5-year cycle: 1999 - Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard 2000 - Cape Cod 2001 - South Shore, Boston Harbor and North Shore 2000 - Buzzards Bay, Elizabeth Is., Mt. Hope Bay
