50272 -101 



REPORT DOCUMENTATION 

 PAGE 



1. REPORT NO. 



FWS/OBS-82/25 



3. Recipient's Accession No, 



4. Title and Subtitle 



THE ECOLOGY OF THE SEAGRASSES OF SOUTH FLORIDA: 

 A COMMUNITY PROFILE 



5. Report Date 



September 1982 



7. Author(s) 



J. C. Zieman 



8. Performing Organization Rept. No. 



9. Performing Organization Name and Address 



Department of Environmental Sciences 

 University of Virginia 

 Charlottesville, Virginia 22901 



10. Project/Task/Work Unit No. 



11. Contract(C) or Grant(G) No. 



(C) 



(G) 



12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address 



Office of Biological Services 

 Fish and Wildlife Service 

 U.S. Department of the Interior 

 Washington. D.C. 20240 



13. Type of Report A Period Covered 



New Orleans OCS Office 

 Bureau of Land Management 

 U.S. Department of the Interi 

 New Orleans. LA 70130 



ot*- 



15. Supplementary Notes 



16. Abstract (Limit: 200 words) 



A detailed description is given of the community structure and ecosystem processes 

 of the seagrass ecosystems of south Florida. This description is based upon a compila- 

 tion of information from numerous published and unpublished sources. 



The material covered includes distribution, systematics, physiology, and growth 

 of the plants, as well as succession and community development. The role of seagrass 

 ecosystems in providing both food and shelter for juveniles as well as foraging grounds 

 for larger organisms is treated in detail. Emphasis is given to the functional role of 

 seagrass communities in the overall coastal marine system. 



The final section considers the impacts of human development on seagrass eco- 

 systems and their value to both man and the natural system. Because seagrass systems 

 are fully submerged and less visually obvious, recognition of their value as a natural 

 resource has been slower than that of the emergent coastal communities. They must, 

 however, be treated as a valuable natural resource and preserved from further 

 degradation. 



17. Document Analysis a. Descriptors 



Ecology, impacts, management, succession 



b. IdentJfiers/Open-Ended Terms 



Seagrasses, ecosystem, south Florida 



c. COSATI Field/Group 



18. Availability Statement 



Unl imited 



19. Security Class (This Report) 



Un class i f j ed 



21. No. of Pages 



yiii + 150 



20. Security Class (This Page) 



(See ANSI-Z39.ie) 



See Instructions on Reverse 



OPTIONAL FORM 272 (4-77) 

 (Formerly NTIS-35) 

 Department of Commerce 



*U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1983-769 265,129 



