59 



eelgrass abundance in southeastern Massachusetts, and are discussed in 

 greater detail below. 



Storm damage and ice scour 



Natural physical disturbances such as storms, ice scour, and 

 sediment erosion affect large scale patterns of seagrass distribution 

 (Harlin et al., 1982; Kirkman, 1978; Robertson and Mann, 1984). Aubrey 

 and Speer (1984) and Zeeb (1985) documented that hurricanes in 1938 and 

 September, 1944 had the greatest impact on Cape Cod during this century, 

 and these and other major storms affect this region are listed in Table 

 1. 



Ice scouring, can have a great impact on eelgrass abundance in 

 shallow water, but because it does not greatly impact human activity 

 locally, it has not been well documented. Periodically, Buzzards Bay 

 accumulates considerable ice cover that may extend several miles 

 offshore in places, and ice thickness may exceed 30 cm in some poorly 

 flushed areas where icing is more frequent (pers. obs. and press 

 reports) . Years in which ice scour was appreciable can be determined 

 from winter water temperature data because water temperature correlates 

 well with reported ice accumulation (Wheeler, 1986, and other sources). 

 In general, years in which mean February water temperatures (c.f. fig 

 16) is below -0.5 °C in Woods Hole, ice accumulation in Buzzards Bay is 

 appreciable. These years are summarized in Table 1. 



