[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f you love to fish, you love seagrasses – whether you know it or not. Without vast underwater meadows of seagrass, many of the fish we target simply wouldn’t be here. Seagrasses are the foundation of our estuaries, but they are often overlooked by anglers, boaters, and seafood consumers. Even the term “seagrass” is misleading, as these plants are not grasses, but a diverse set of submerged flowering plants that occupy coastal ecosystems worldwide. By creating a rich and complex habitat with abundant hiding places, seagrass meadows act as nurseries and refuges for a variety of prey fish and juvenile gamefish. Seagrass beds provide places for fish and crustaceans to spawn, give juvenile gamefish places to hide from predators before they move out to open waters, and support a variety of prey species that end up feeding the gamefish we target. Without seagrasses, many species of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks would be without a home during their juvenile phase. Even oceanic fish, like grouper and snapper, use seagrass meadows during their early years. In fact, it has been estimated that up to 95% of commercially harvested fish species use estuarine and coastal habitats – including seagrass beds – at some point in their life.
Despite their obvious importance, seagrass losses continue to be a huge issue that plagues coastal ecosystems. Being in close proximity to land, water quality around seagrass beds can be impacted by human activities, resulting in lowered salinities, reduced light availability, and altered nutrient loads. As these issues grow, we can cross a tipping point that leads to sudden and catastrophic seagrass die-offs. To help combat the increasing loss of seagrass locally, Florida Oceanographic Society is developing a seagrass restoration program that will help return these critical plants – and all the animals they support – to the Indian River Lagoon.
How does seagrass restoration work? The basics of seagrass restoration rely on the fact that seagrass species spread using underground “runners” (technically, rhizomes) just like strawberries or that awful St. Augustine grass that we’re forced to plant on our southern lawns. By snipping these runners, we can create cuttings that are genetically identical to the parent plant without having to worry about growing new plants from seed. In theory, this growing and cutting process can be carried out forever, allowing us to create thousands of “clones” from one initial snip. Since seagrasses don’t reproduce very quickly from seed, this self-replication is responsible for many of the seagrass meadows that you see throughout our local estuaries.
Using this idea of “cloning,” seagrass restoration typically relies on collecting donor cuttings from existing seagrass beds and transplanting them into areas where seagrass has died off. Over time, these transplanted cuttings will spread using their runners, eventually creating a new meadow. Many successful seagrass restorations have been completed this way throughout the world. However, taking cuttings out of the wild puts strain on existing
seagrass beds, and in areas where widespread seagrass die-off has occurred (the northern Indian River Lagoon, for example), there simply isn’t enough wild seagrass left to take cuttings from.
As an alternative to digging up seagrass cuttings from healthy meadows for restoration projects, we can use seagrass fragments that get washed ashore during storms. If collected shortly after they wash up, these storm-generated seagrass fragments remain completely viable, and can be grown into much larger plants. Florida Oceanographic has adopted this non-destructive approach for its seagrass restoration program. Using an army of dedicated volunteers, our research team collects seagrass fragments that wash up on the shoreline of the Indian River Lagoon. These fragments are then transferred to a nursery at the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center, where they are grown up, and will eventually be returned to areas of the lagoon that are devoid of seagrass. This allows us to have a constant supply of seagrass plants without stressing or harming existing seagrass beds. Although we are still in the early stages of this project, seagrass plants are currently being grown-up in our nursery, and the first restoration event will take place this spring!
Restored seagrass beds quickly begin to function like natural seagrass habitats, and eventually become fully functional seagrass meadows. As the restorations mature, we regain all of the valuable “ecosystem services” that seagrasses provide. Over time, gamefish species that utilize seagrass beds as habitats and nurseries return, greatly improving recreational fishing. As an added bonus, lush seagrass beds keep bottom sediments from getting stirred up on windy days, making sight fishing possible. Unfortunately, restoration is only part of the story. Fixing the environmental issues that lead to seagrass declines is key to making sure that restored seagrass beds stay alive over time. Florida Oceanographic Society is a tireless advocate for improved water quality in our local estuaries. We are working to replant lost seagrass and maintain new and existing beds, so that you, your children, and grandchildren can enjoy fishing the waters of the Indian River Lagoon into the future.
January is Mangroves and Seagrass Month at the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center. Join us at the Coastal Center on Saturday, January 23rd for a kids-friendly craft and storytime celebrating our vital mangrove and seagrass ecosystems. For more information on Florida Oceanographic’s seagrass restoration program, including potential volunteer opportunities, visit www.floridaocean.org.
Kathryn Tiling is a Ph.D. candidate at Florida Atlantic University and a Research Associate at Florida Oceanographic Society. Her dissertation research focuses on molecular ecology of seagrass in the Indian River Lagoon (researching how genetically unique clones may deal with disturbance). Kathryn can be reached at ktiling@floridaocean.org
Zack Jud, Ph.D., is the Director of Education at Florida Oceanographic Society. He is a coastal ecologist (researching tarpon, snook, bonefish, permit, and lionfish), a marine science educator, and a fly casting and fly tying instructor. Zack can be reached at zjud@floridaocean.org.
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