A gradient in Thalassia abundance currently exists from sparse beds at the north to increasing abundance southward. This gradient may be due to a combination of reduced salinties, increased nutrient input, and high light attenuation due to both high color of the freshwater inflow and the precipitation of dissolved organic matter when the fresh river water mixes with estuarine water. The running of small motor vessels and trawling for shrimp in the shallow seagrass beds in the southern bay have been suggested as a current negative impacts. This area was sampled to determine if there is a spatial gradient in the condition of Thalassia populations related to propellor or trawl impacts. Florida Power Corporation's Anclote River Energy Complex is located just inland from the shore of the Gulf of Mexico on the Anclote river.
Heated water is discharged into a dredged discharge canal located north of the River.
Sampling at this site used the the point of discharge as the central point of sampling and radiate outward from this defined source of stress . Most urban and rural development in the region currently uses on-site septic systems and recent studies indicate they are not performing adequately to treat household wastes. Sampling at this site focused on the River mouth and navigation channel extending to the west as the centroid of nutrient inputs from the watershed. The large-scale samples had significantly higher densities than the small scale samples. Semivariograms of density indicated that scale-dependent variability in shoot density increased with the scale of sampling as indicated by the increase in the sill and range.