PLANTING GUIDELINES FOR SEAGRASSES 



by 



Ronald C. Phillips 



I . INTRODUCTION 



Seagrasses play an important role in the biological and physical 

 functions of the coastal marine environment. However, increased coastal 

 engineering activities in the environment have created impacts which 

 adversely affect this productive coastal resource. Seagrasses, once 

 disturbed, do not reestablish as readily as terrestrial plants. 



Because seagrass beds may be damaged by coastal engineering ac- 

 tivitiesj methods must be made available to mitigate these project 

 impacts and further the use of seagrasses to stabilize substrate adjacent 

 to navigation channels. This report provides a state-of-the-art field 

 guide on the planting of seagrasses. 



II. SELECTING PLANTS AND PLANTING f4ETH0DS 



The appropriate species and planting method may be determined in the 

 following manner. 



STEP ONE: Select the description from each of the following categories 

 which best describes the site to be planted. 



GEOGRAPHICAL AREA 



Atlantic coast (north of Beaufort, North Carolina] 



Gulf coast and from Beaufort, North Carolina, to southern Florida 



Pacific coast 



TIDAL ELEVATION 



Mean low water (MLW) to mean t-ide level (MTL) or MLW to -6 feet 

 (-1.8 meters) on the Atlantic and gulf coasts 



Mean lower low water (MLLW) to lowest high low water (LHLW) or 

 MLLW to -6 feet on the Pacific coast 



TIDAL CURRENTS 



to 3.5 knots (6.5 kilometers per hour) 

 >3.5 knots 



SALINITY 



to 20 parts per thousand 

 21 to 40 parts per thousand 

 >40 parts per thousand 



