5 Seagrass Bed Facts That Will Have You Impressed

Date: 6/9/17

Location: EcoDiscovery Center, Key West

5 Seagrass Bed Facts That Will Have You Impressed

By: Dana Fellerman

Part of the Seagrass Bed Exhibit at the Center.

 

While visiting the EcoDiscovery Center in Key West the center featured many different exhibits on the types of ecosystems located in the area. Exhibits included habitats such as coral reefs and coastal mangrove forests, but it also talked about seagrass beds and their importance to the locals. If you don't have time to read everything on the website, any other website on the web, or go to the EcoDiscovery Center yourself, here is a list of 5 facts about the seagrass beds summarized.

Example of an active/healthy seagrass community.

1.      Seagrass beds help play a role in primary production in the ocean. Algae are the main components of primary production in the ocean, but that doesn’t mean seagrass beds don’t let their non-vascular ‘cousins’ do all the work! This is why seagrass beds are confined to shallow and sunny areas to take up the sunlight to help contribute to the ecosystem.

2.      Seagrass beds feature habitat for a variety of species. Many young fish, such as snappers, live within the shallows and the seagrass beds for protection from larger predators that might want to eat them up for a snack or for a meal. Other species such as grunts and lobsters, for example, use the beds as a nursery for their eggs.

3.      Seagrass beds help build beaches. The blades of seagrass help slow the water flow down where they are rooted, allowing sediments to settle where they are located. Because seagrass beds are located near coral reefs more often than not they help protect their reef friends from being covered by the floating and settling sediments. Sediments also include a variety of nutrients for the beds, making it a very fertile habitat.

4.      Seagrass beds help the local economy. Around 80% of fish caught for commercial or recreational use are connected to seagrass beds in Key West. Around half of the outdoor recreational jobs in the area are also tied in with seagrass beds.

5. Seagrass beds are vulnerable. They are very susceptible to changes such as cloudy water due to pollution (as they cannot get the sunlight they need this way), excess nutrients, boat strikes, treading on them, smothering and many other forms of destruction. Scars inflicted on seagrass beds may take up to 7 years to heal, if it can heal at all!

Think another fact should have made the list? Post a comment down below!