Abstract
Seagrass meadows have been shown to be highly productive and of great value to nearshore marine regions. In addition to the utilization of their production by both direct grazing and detrital food chains, considerable amounts of seagrass are transported offshore, often to great distances, where it may serve as food for both surface feeding and benthic feeding organisms.
Seagrass leaves are detached by senescence, storms, and the action of herbivores such as sea urchins and parrotfish. Leaves of turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum) are sometimes seen drifting on the surface, but usually sink rapidly or remain on the bottom, whereas Syringodium filiforme leaves, with larger lacunal spaces, nearly always float to the surface.
In Tague Bay, St. Croix, U.S.V.I., only about 1% of Thalassia production is exported, whereas 60–100% of the Syringodium production is carried out of the system.
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© 1979 Plenum Press, New York
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Zieman, J.C., Thayer, G.W., Robblee, M.B., Zieman, R.T. (1979). Production and Export of Sea Grasses from a Tropical Bay. In: Livingston, R.J. (eds) Ecological Processes in Coastal and Marine Systems. Marine Science, vol 10. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9146-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9146-7_2
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