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AB) at 1.4 m MLW where no eelgrass grows today. Another was taken along 

 Goats Neck, Naushon Is. (GN) at 0.7 m MLW with a shallow eelgrass bed. 

 Three cores taken in Buttermilk Bay, Wareham either within or adjacent 

 to eelgrass beds: one (BBl) on the north side of the flood delta at 1.2 

 m MLW, one (BB2) 20 m from a marsh at 0.8 m MLW, near the north end of 

 the bay, 60 m east of Red Brook, a small stream there, and the third 

 (BB3) in the same area but 50 m from shore at 1.1 m MLW. Four cores 

 were taken in Waquoit Bay, at the border of Falmouth and Mashpee. Three 

 of the cores formed a transect from the deep east central part of the 

 bay at 2.1 m MLW (WBl) , toward the east within 0.5 km of both the 

 eastern shore and the mouth of the Quashnet river, a large stream 

 entering the Bay. Cores WB2 and WB3 were taken at 1.9 and 1.8 m MLW 

 respectively, and each core was at least 200 m from the nearest core. A 

 fourth core (WB4) was 60 m south of the northern shore of the Bay at 1.1 

 m. 



The cores were taken underwater by pushing a 10 cm diameter PVC 

 pipe into the sediment 40 to 80 cm, plugged, brought to the laboratory, 

 and sectioned in 1.5 or 3 cm intervals. Sections were wet sieved into 

 three fractions: 1-2 mm, 2-10 mm, and >10 mm, to determine the abundance 

 of eelgrass fragments and seed coats, as well as invertebrate remains. 



In Waquoit Bay today, sizable beds of eelgrass grows only near the 

 mouth of the Bay, 1.5 km from the nearest any core and is found today. 

 To determine if these beds contribute any seeds to the area where the 

 core was taken, 24 10 cm shallow cores were taken around this bed to 

 determine the distribution of seed dispersion. Four cores were taken 

 near the center of the bed at 0.9 m, 4 were taken at the deep edge of 



