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ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY AND SEAGRASSES IN MARGINAL HABITATS
Impact/Purpose:
This project will help establish a database for water quality parameters in seagrass areas for areas of the northern Gulf of Mexico currently thought to be marginal for seagrasses. Characterization of seagrass water quality requirements will help lead to a better understanding of the functional ecology of seagrass ecosystems, which in turn will allow federal and state scientists and managers to recognize the effects of, and potential for, degrading impacts.
Description:
Water quality and seagrasses will be monitored for estuarine to marine seagrass species at selected locations in northern Gulf of Mexico coastal waters, focusing on areas within boundaries of the Gulf Island National Seashore in Mississippi and Florida. Fresh to marine species of submerged aquatic angiosperms will be monitored in Mobile Bay and associated water bodies. Sampling locations will be determined on the basis of site accessibility, ongoing research projects at locations that typify critical and/or endangered habitats. Water quality will be assessed primarily as a function of turbidity, salinity, and temperature. Obverall health of seagrasses at these locations will be determined by employing a variety of techniques that assess various aspects of seagrass production and ecology.