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SUBMERGED AQUATIC VEGETATION MONITORING IN ESCAMBIA-PENSACOLA BAY SYSTEM, FL ERF 2001
Citation:
Quarles, R L. AND E M. Lores. SUBMERGED AQUATIC VEGETATION MONITORING IN ESCAMBIA-PENSACOLA BAY SYSTEM, FL ERF 2001. Presented at ERF 2001, St. Pete Beach, FL, Nov. 4-8, 2001.
Description:
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Monitoring in Escambia-Pensacola Bay System, FL (Abstract). To be presented at the16th Biennial Conference of the Estuarine Research Foundation, ERF 2001: An Estuarine Odyssey, 4-8 November 2001, St. Pete Beach, FL. 1 p. (ERL,GB R850).
Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and water quality parameters have been monitored in Escambia/Pensacola Bay, Florida for 4 years. Our objective is to determine whether changes in SAV coverage can be linked with changes in water quality. To determine if light availability and water quality affect the growth of SAV into deeper water, we monitored changes in the deep-water margin (edge) of the SAV beds in the lower bay relative to permanent stakes deployed in 1997. Results from monitoring the deep-water edge in the lower bay indicate generally improved coverage over the past 4 years. In upper Escambia Bay we monitored SAV beds using DGPS. Vallisneria americana, an oligohaline species that occurs in upper portions of estuaries in the northern Gulf of Mexico, is the dominant SAV species in the upper bay. SAV coverage in the upper bay declined in 2000 when a drought occurred that resulted in salinities greater than 15 in the Escambia Bay delta. We believe this exceeded the salinity tolerance of V. americana and was responsible for the observed decline.