Seagrass

Protecting our underwater forests

Learn about the fascinating world of seagrasses, the submerged flowering plants thriving in Florida’s bays, lagoons, and coastal waters. These underwater forests, reliant on clear waters for light, are not only oxygen producers like their terrestrial counterparts but also form a crucial part of our coastal ecosystem.

Why are seagrasses important?

Food Source

Seagrass beds are feeding grounds for a variety of species such as the Florida Manatee, various species of turtles, sharks, and rays. These animals forage in the seagrass, feeding on the grass itself or on the smaller creatures that inhabit the grasses.

Marine Nurseries

Seagrass communities serve as nurseries for juvenile fish, crabs, and shrimp that later move offshore, as well as provide habitat for threatened and endangered species such as the smalltooth sawfish.

Nature's Purifiers

Seagrasses serve to improve water quality by reducing nutrients in the water column, and they are important components in energy and nutrient cycles, as well as estuarine and coastal food webs.

Aquatic Homesteads

Seagrass communities in Tampa Bay provide vital habitat for recreationally and commercially important fish and invertebrate species.

Our approach

Here in Tampa Bay, three species of seagrasses make up the majority of our habitats. These three species are sometimes found mixed together within one area, but typically they compete with each other and are forced to grow in certain areas and depths.

Plant Species

Shoal Grass

Halodule wrightii

Turtle Grass

Thalassia testudinum

Manatee Grass

Syringodium filliforme

Restoration

To support the Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s management goal of maintaining 40,000 acres of seagrass in Tampa Bay, it is important to explore opportunities for ongoing seagrass restoration projects. Tampa Bay Watch has a history of conducting several successful transplanting projects throughout the bay by pulling grass from a permitted donor area for transplanting into the permitted project area.

Monitoring

Tampa Bay Watch participates as a member of the Tampa Bay Interagency Seagrass Monitoring Program which conducts annual seagrass surveys at about 60 Tampa Bay bay-wide fixed length transects. The program, a joint effort among several Tampa Bay agencies, takes a look at trends of the Tampa Bay seagrass communities at the species level.