Table of contents 



page 



Title page i 



Acknowledgements ii 



Table of contents i i i 



List of Figures vi 



List of Tables __ _ ix 



Executive summary x 



Overview 



Introduction 1 



General biology and ecology of eelgrass. 2 



Chapter 1 



The distribution of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) in Buzzards Bay 



Introduction 9 



Methods , 9 



Results _^ 15 



General features 15 



Region wide summary 18 



Discussion 19 



Chapter 2 



Eelgrass {Zostera marina L.) production in Buzzards Bay 



Introduction 25 



Comparison of eelgrass and other primary producers in 



Buzzards Bay 26 



Relative contribution of eelgrass production in Buzzards Bay 



and adjoining shallow embayments 29 



Chapter 3 



Evidence for long-term changes in eelgrass {Zostera marina L.) 

 abundance in Massachusetts in sediment cores 



111 



