The Ecology of the Seagrasses of South Florida - USGS National ...

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Halodula wrightii Syringodium filiforme Figure 4. Tcagrdsses of sout'~ Florida,
in disturbed areas, and in areas where ----- Thalassia or Syringodium --- are excluded because of the prevail ing conditions. Shoal grass grows commonly in water either too shallow or too deep for these seagrasses. Leaves are flat, typically l to 3 mr,i wide and 10 to 20 cm long, and arise froin erect shoots. The tips of the leaves are not rounded, but have two or three points, an important recognition character. ----- Hal odule is the most tolerant of a1 1 the seagrasses to variations in temperature and sal ini ty (Phil 1 ips 1960; r4cf4il lan and Floseley 1967). In low sa1 inity areas, care must be taken to avoid confusing it w i t h Rupp-G.. Three species of Halo hila 11 small and delicate, are sparse y istributed in south Florida, Halophila engelmanni is the most recognizable with a whorl of four to eight oblong leaves 10 to 30 mm long borne on thc end of a stem 2 to 4 cm long. This spccies has been recorded frorn as deep as 90 m (295 ft) near the Dry Tortugas. &il+&ihia kcipiens has paired oblong-e 1 ~ p t ~ leaves c 10 to 25 lnrn long and 3 to 6 mn wide wising directly fro17 the node of the rhizome. A nevJ species, - H. johnsonii, was described (Eisernan and t4cMillan 1980) and could be easily confused with H. decipiens. The most obvious differences are that N. johnsoni i 1 acks hairs entirely on the leaf surface and the veins emerge from the midrib at 45O angles instead of 60". The initial description recorded H. johnsonii fron Indian River to Riscayne Bay, hut its range could ul timately be rnuch wider. The najor problem in positive identification of seagrasses is between Npd1~1e and Ruppia mariti*, com~nonly known as widgeongrass.~thougti typical ly found alongside tialodule, primarily in areas of reduced sarnity, Ruppia is not a true seagrass, but rather a freshwater plant that has a pronounced sal ini ty to1 erance. It is an extremely important food for waterfowl and is widely distributed. Where it occurs, it functions similarly to the seagrasses. In contrast with Halo- - dule, the leaves are expanded at the base and arise a1 ternately from the sheath, and the leaf tips are tapered to a long point. It should he noted, however, that leaf tips are cor~r~only missins fro(. older leaves of both species.
Page 1 and 2: F WS/O&S-82/25 September 1882 Repri
Page 3 and 4: 1 DISCLAIMER The findings in this r
Page 6 and 7: CONTENTS (continued ) Page CHAPTER
Page 8 and 9: TABLES Number Temperature, salinity
Page 10: CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 SEAGRASS
Page 15 and 16: Key Went St Pstarobur~ Cedor Key Pa
Page 17: (4) The ability to complete their s
Page 21 and 22: AVERAGE LEAF WIDTH I DISTANCE BETWE
Page 23 and 24: grass, and shoal grass in various 1
Page 25 and 26: Sediment Elevation (c m) Leaf Densi
Page 27 and 28: indication of a 1 ini tation on pro
Page 29 and 30: CHAPTER 3 PRODUCTION ECOLOGY The de
Page 31 and 32: 1 isl;s conpdratiue Piorrlass value
Page 34 and 35: Net production measurements for ~10
Page 36 and 37: of seagrasses was bicarbonate ion,
Page 38: Currently the main 1 imitations of
Page 42 and 43: CHAPTER 4 THE SEAGRASS SYSTEN 4.1 F
Page 44 and 45: Figure 9. B1 owout disturbance and
Page 46 and 47: Keys waters. Where the continental
Page 48: 4.5 STRUCTURAL AND PROCESS SUCCESSI
Page 51: theft- h~ldfas t. Prirqary strbstrd
Page 54 and 55: Figure 15. Tha1 assia blades showin
Page 58 and 59: Fish I] lnver tebrates HEAVY THIN S
Page 61 and 62: Figure 19. Small grouper (Serranida
Page 63 and 64: 81 though crocodiles undoubted1 y f
Page 66 and 67: CHAPTER 6 TROPHIC RELATIONSHIPS IN
Page 68:
I\iumcrous fishes ingest sor:e plan
Page 73 and 74:
Table 1C. Continued. tlerbi vore Pa
Page 76 and 77:
The herbivory of parrotfish and sea
Page 78 and 79:
1 eaves pl us their epiphytes avera
Page 80 and 81:
the rate of biological breakdown of
Page 82 and 83:
Chemical Changes During Decompositi
Page 84:
CHAPTER 7 INTERFACES WITH OTHER SYS
Page 87 and 88:
Use of adjacent grass and sand flat
Page 89 and 90:
etained in the bed to contribute to
Page 91 and 92:
1972). Sinilar habitat use by juven
Page 93 and 94:
CHAPTER 8 HUMAN IMPACTS AND APPLIED
Page 95 and 96:
Taylor and Sa1 oqan (1968) contrast
Page 97 and 98:
on the &ach (Radeau and Rerquisrt.
Page 99 and 100:
the closed systerq, however. Thorha
Page 101 and 102:
1981. The pit was created over 30 y
Page 103 and 104:
with over 70% of gulf recreational
Page 105 and 106:
~bb~tt, #.P,, 3.C. Ogden, and 1.A.
Page 107 and 108:
higher consumers in a seagrass com-
Page 109 and 110:
shrimps (3ecapoda: Palaelqonidae).
Page 111 and 112:
Ehrl ich, P.R., and A.H. Ehrl ich.
Page 113 and 114:
Caribb. Res, Inst. t8ater Pollaat.
Page 116 and 117:
crustaceans. Rec. Oceanogr. Uks., i
Page 118 and 119:
tlayer, A.G. 1918. Toxic effects du
Page 120 and 121:
Apalachicol a Bay, Florida US4. Gio
Page 122 and 123:
antillarum Phil ippi : Formation of
Page 124 and 125:
Prachaska, F. J., and 9.C. Cato. 19
Page 126 and 127:
Sims, H.W., Jr., and R.M. Ingle. 19
Page 128 and 129:
of know1 edge and research needs. P
Page 131 and 132:
Wood, E.J.F., and J.C. Zieman. 1969
Page 133 and 134:
APPEMDI X KEY TO FISH SUPVEYS IN S0
Page 135 and 136:
L n 'u m (U m 'r .r > FVIL (U > El-
Page 137 and 138:
"l .^ -00 "l Q W O Z& n 0 "l m c 0,
Page 140:
... m h LI L Cn dC 3 Yu O 0 0 ox .-
Page 144 and 145:
List of fishes and their diets from
Page 146:
List of gishes and their diets from
Page 149 and 150:
LO) L O)= a, Oi D L & WOC C .- s g'
Page 152:
--C) h W wcn Old
Page 155 and 156:
C C +m" CX r .-- a * 'PI C7 C T 4 b
Page 160:
-. "-1 --- --- -- - ---- -- - - - .
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