FIGURES 



Number Page 



1 Panoramic view of a south Florida turtle grass bed 2 



2 Map of south Florida 3 



3 Average monthly temperatures in Florida 6 



4 Seagrasses of south Florida 9 



5 Diagram of a typical Thalassia shoot 12 



6 Response of Thalassia production to temperature 13 



7 Response of a Thalassia bed to increasing sediment depth 16 



8 Depth distribution of four seagrasses 19 



9 Blowout disturbance and recovery zones 35 



10 Idealized sequence through a seagrass blowout 35 



11 Representative calcareous green algae from seagrass bess 35 



12 Origin of sedimentary particles in south Florida marine waters ... 36 



13 Ecosystem development patterns in south Florida marine waters .... 37 



14 Calcareous algae ( Udotea sp. ) from the fringes of a 



seagrass bed 43 



15 Thalassia blades showing tips encrusted with calcareous 



epiphytic algae 45 



16 Large invertebrates from seagrass beds 47 



17 Snail grazing on the tip of an encrusted Thalassia leaf 4? 



18 Relative abundance of fishes and invertebrates over 



seagrass beds and adjacent habitats 49 



19 Small grouper (Serranidae) foraging in seagrass bed 52 



20 Seagrass bed following grazing by green sea turtle 53 



21 Shallow seagrasses adjacent to red mangrove roots 54 



22 Principal energetic pathways in seagrass beds 57 



23 Comparative decay rates 71 



24 Grunt school over coral reef during daytime 76 



25 Seagrass export from south Florida to the eastern 



Gulf of Mexico 79 



26 Housing development in south Florida 85 



27 Scallop on the surface of a shallow Halodule bed 95 



VI 



