18 



similar appearance to eelgrass beds, but usually can be identified on 

 photographs, because, unlike eelgrass beds, they frequently appear in 

 the surf zone. 



Questionable areas that were not field validated are identified in 

 Appendix II. 



Region wide summary 



Eelgrass coverage was broken down by town, including the estimate 

 for the Elizabeth Islands (Table 2) . On the mainland portion of the 

 bay, there are 3600 hectares of eelgrass habitat. An additional 540 ha 

 were added for production measurements as to account for eelgrass along 

 the Elizabeth Islands (Appendix II) . When these bed areas are corrected 

 for percent cover, they amount to a total of 2670 ha of eelgrass bed 

 cover in Buzzards Bay. 



Several comparisons can be made between eelgrass habitat area and 

 other substrate types. For example, in Buzzards Bay, eelgrass beds 

 cover twice the area salt marshes (Table 3). To a large degree, the 

 amount of eelgrass within a towns boundary depends on the area of 

 suitable substrate. Bathymetric contours are drawn on nautical charts 

 at 1.8, 3.6, and 5.4 m (6, 12, and 18 ft). Most (but not all), eelgrass 

 grows in less than 3.6 m of water in Buzzards Bay, therefor this is the 

 most meaningful reference contour. 



The ratio of eelgrass habitat area to substrate area less than 3.6 

 m varies markedly in each town (Table 3) , and this pattern of 

 distribution can be explained by differences in hydrography, water 

 quality, and disturbance levels in each part of the Bay. Three towns 



