SEAGRASS MAPPING 

AND MONITORING: BIG BEND AND BEYONDPaul Carlson, Laura YarbroFWC/FWRI 9/24/08
TO EFFECTIVELY PROTECT AND M

FLORIDA’S LIVING MARINE RESOUAND PARTNERS NEED TO MONITO

• COMMERCIAL AND RECREATIONAL SHELLFISH STOCKS• BENTHIC MARINE HABITATS- CORASEAGRASSES, OYSTER REEFS, WET• SEA TURTLES, MAMMALS, AND BIR• THREATS TO HABITATS AND ORGANUTRIENT LOADING, WATER QUALITHARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS, HABITAT 
FLORIDA SEAGRASS M

• One of 

importahabitat

• One of 

seagrasin the U

– 2 mill

insho

– 1.5 m

offsho

– 800,0

Florid
FMRI SEAGRASS 

ESTIMATES Hectares STATEWIDE TOTAL 913,770 Panhandle 16,942 Big Bend 247,699 Gulf Peninsula 43,341 Atlantic Peninsula 30,132 South Florida 575,117 POTENTIAL SEAGRASSBig Bend 1,415,028 Southwest Florida Shelf 1,433,127 
Economic Valu

of Seagrass Hab

• TPD $9,000-$28,000 pe

per year

• FDEP $20,000 per acre • 2.2 million acres• $44 billion per year• Restoration costs estima

be 10-20x higher
SEAGRASS LOSS IN FL

• Tampa Bay- 80% loss since 1• Hillsborough Bay- 90% loss• Sarasota Bay- 30% loss since • St. Joseph Sound- 72% loss s• Charlotte Harbor- 30% loss si• Northern Biscayne Bay- 43% • Indian River- 30% loss
CAUSES OF SEAGRAS

• Direct losses: Dredging for na

and residential construction. scarring.

• Changes in timing and volume 

freshwater delivery to estuarie

• Indirect impacts on water qua

clarity: Point and non-point sonutrient loading, sediment res
I 

I 41' Alma Epiphytes 

Light-thr

I 

Figure Availability of light for underwater bey grasses is influenc

surface light attenuation processes. DIN = dissolved inorganic nitrogen 

phosphorus. 

4r

Light Trans

TBFP 

NITROGEN MANAGEMENT 

STRATEGY PARADIGM 

N Lod —I'.Chlorophyll • Light Attenuation 

Seagrask Growth y Seagia!:.t.-, Light 

Rrp Tod ucti n Requirement 

J gui.e fie. TB NLP Marmgern,.-nt Strategy Paradigm. 

Plankton 

hlorophyl I a 

Total 

Suspended 

Solids 
Depth distribution of seagrasses 

the world is determined by wate

Clear Turbid
Triennial Review of W

• Do we really need to monitor 

quality in areas with seagrass

• Would a narrative criterion ba

seagrass loss be as effective numeric criterion for transpare

• Seagrass loss listed as a trigg

assessment in IWR
Integra

MappiMonito
Characteristics Mapping 

Spatial coverage Large- 100s km2 SmSpatial resolution Coarse- 0.2 ha FinClassification Coarse- 9113,16 FinSpecies Comp None CoRevisit interval Long- 5 to 10 y ShData lag time Long- 12 to 24 mo Sh

Mapping and Monitoring are Com
CAUSES 

• Tremen

at risk

• Rising 

Suwa

• Coasta• El Nino 

MODIS RG

BIG BEBEDS• Extens• Logisti• Pristine
SPRING 1998 SEAWIFS CHLOROPH
Big Bend Seagrass 

Program Sampli
WATER QUALITY

• Salinity, Temperature• Secchi depth• Water depth (MLW)• PAR vertical profiles• Color, turbidity• Chlorophyll

VEGETA• Braun B• Epiphyt• Epiphyt• Biomas

• Morpho
BIG BEND KPAR VALU

SUMMER 2003 

I 
BIG BEND SURFACE SALINITY 

SUMMER 2003 

5 
Region Thalassia Halodule 

 Cedar Keys 2.7 2. Econfina 3.3 2.

 Keaton Beach 3.3 2. Steinhatchee 3.3 2.

 Suwannee 0.0 3.

Mean Braun Blan

SEAGRASS DENSITY WHERE P
DEPTH DISTRIBUTION OF THALA

-500-400-300-200-100

0

DEPTH (cm)

ECON KEAT STEIN HBW HBE 
BIG BE

AERIAL P

LAS

R
Seagrass Resources of the 

Water Manageme

Habitat Type Code Area 

(Acres) 

Land 0 294809 

Nearshore Open Water 5400 205549 

Offshore Open Water 5700 129382 

Tidal Flats 6510 19202 

Intertidal Oyster Reefs 6540 587 

Patchy Seagrass 9113 22301 

Continuous Seagrass 9116 260420 

All Seagrass 282722 

it 

May 2004 Novem
Region Mean Std M

Econfina 8.1 4.7 Horseshoe West 15.5 5.6 Horseshoe East 11.2 8.0 

Suwannee 7.7 8.1 

2004 

Comparison of Seagrass Abunda2005. Data are means of Braun-Bscores for four quadrats at each 
Region 2004 2005 2004 2005 

Econfina 58.1% 73.3% 51.6% 70.0% Horseshoe West 73.5% 65.4% 58.8% 65.4% Horseshoe East 35.3% 33.3% 47.1% 23.8% 

Suwannee 9.1% 33.3% 18.2% 11.1% 

Thalassia Syringodium 

Comparison of Seagrass Species Compositi

Data are frequency of occurrence by specie
• • • •• • 

eagrass D

(Braun-B

Horsesho

June 

S 

'

• 

• 

!!° - 

ti 0 

■ 

• Q N, 4:f:4‘ • 

• 

1P0.11P) A • • 

I I 

■ 

si 

• • 

0 0.5 1 2 3 4

Miles 

p 

Seagrass Density 

BBFLDO4B Events 

SUMSG 

o 0.0 - 5.0 

• 5.1 - 10.0 

• 10.1 - 15.0 

0 15.1 - 20.0 

0 20.1 30.0 

SG 

• 0.00 - 5.00 

• 5.01 - 10.00 

• 10.01 - 15.00 

• 15.01 - 20.00 

20.01 - 29.00 

The SIMM Program- S

Integrated Mapping and 

Program Element• Map all seagras

State on a six-y

• Monitor seagras

throughout Flor

• Annual monitori• Hexennial mapp

monitoring repo
The Vision: Distributed n

partners working in their “b