This report, covering the seagrass community of the Florida Gulf of
Mexico coastline from south of Tampa Bay to Pensacola, was
published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1989.
Download the
US Fish and Wildlife Service Technical Report (PDF 4.03 MB)
To view this PDF file, you will need
Adobe Reader.
To download Adobe Reader, visit http://get.adobe.com/reader/
THE ECOLOGY OF THE SEAGRASS
MEADOWS OF THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA: A COMMUNITY
PROFILE
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Biological Report 85 (7.25). 155pp.
Joseph C. Zieman
Rita T. Zieman
Department of Environmental Sciences
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Project Officer
Edward Pendleton
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
National Wetlands Research Center
1010 Gause Boulevard
Slidell, LA 70458
PREFACE
Seagrass beds have come to be known as extremely productive and
valuable coastal wetland resources. They are critical nursery areas
for a number of fish, shrimp, and crab species and support the
adults of these and other species that forage around seagrass beds,
preying on the rich and varied fauna that occur in these habitats.
Seagrass beds support several endangered and threatened species,
including sea turtles and manatees, along the west coast of
Florida, the geographic area covered in this profile.
For these reasons and others, seagrass beds or meadows have been
the topic of several of the reports in this community profile
series. This report, covering the seagrass community of the Florida
Gulf of Mexico coastline from south of Tampa Bay to Pensacola, is
the fifth community profile to deal with submerged aquatic
vegetation beds; others in the series have synthesized ecologic
data on seagrasses of south Florida, eelgrass beds in the Pacific
Northwest and along the Atlantic coast, and kelp forests of the
central California coastline.
Persons with Disabilities