Fishing in Florida is a million dollar industry. Seagrass beds are 

 nursery and feeding grounds for young fish and shrimp. Countless 

 populations of small marine animals, upon which the shrimp and fish 

 feed, are attracted to the nutrient-rich grass beds. Organic addition 

 from leaf death and decay adds to the substrate in certain situations. 

 This attracts foraging animals, such as fishes, worms and small Crustacea 

 as well as bacteria. The nutrients released into the water when 

 seagrass leaves decay help to support a large plankton population, 

 which in turn supports an abundance of larger animals, and so on up 

 the food chain. 



The seagrasses, directly or indirectly, may be called food producers. 

 Their presence is essential to the presence and growth of many species 

 of marine life, especially in the younger stages of their development. 

 They also provide a support for numerous epiphytic organisms of 

 similar importance. If the food producer is eliminated, the absence 

 affects organisms progressively up the pyramid until the pinnacle, 

 man in this instance, is reached. The effect upon man if this were 

 to happen would not be realized immediately but would gradually be 

 felt. 



Dredging and filling for creation of real estate has been increasing 

 to an alarming rate in Florida. In most cases the areas most suitable 

 for these activities are the shallow areas which support the seagrass 

 growths. With the present emphasis upon utilizing the products of 

 the sea, more careful attention will have to be focused upon the food 

 pyramid, and, in this instance, upon the role the seagrasses play 

 in the overall picture. It will be necessary to limit certain activities 

 such as dredging and filling which are inimical to marine plants. 

 (Author's introduction) 



Keywords: seagrasses, ecology, food pyramid, fisheries, environmental 

 changes, Florida 



IV-F-3 



Adams, S.M. 1976. The ecology of eelgrass, Zostera marina (L.), fish 



communities; structural analysis. Journal of Experimental Marine 



Biology and Ecology 22:269-291. 



Fish populations utilizing eelgrass, Zostera marina (L.), beds in 

 two different estuarine areas near Beaufort, North Carolina, were 

 analyzed and compared to determine aspects of their community structure. 

 The fish community of the eelgrass beds was characterized by low 

 diversity and high standing crops of biomass and energy, both of which 

 showed seasonal variation. Wide temperature fluctuations related to 

 the overall shallowness of the beds probably regulated the diversity 

 of fishes utilizing the beds. This community was dominated by 



200 



