In 1991, after characterizing water quality and habitat problems of Buzzards Bay, the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program developed a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan that included strategies to protect and restore wetlands, habitat, and water quality and living resources in Buzzards Bay. thesis (Costa, 1998b), which can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. This work incorporated many elements of Costa’s Ph.D. The Costa survey documented both existing distribution and historical trends of eelgrass abundance in Buzzards Bay. For these reasons, the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program funded a study of eelgrass distribution in Buzzards Bay (Costa, 1988a), which was based on historical aerial photographs, field surveys, and sediment cores. The widespread distribution of eelgrass in Buzzards Bay, and its sensitivity to pollution also makes it an ideal indicator species for changes in water quality. However, because eelgrass beds grow underwater, this habitat generally goes unnoticed except by boaters, shellfisherman and divers. In Buzzards Bay, eelgrass is an important habitat, and today eelgrass beds are more extensive than salt marshes. As such, eelgrass beds, as well as other seagrasses, often have become the center of resource management initiatives to protect them. Eelgrass beds are highly productive communities, and are ecologically important because they act as a nursery, habitat, and feeding ground for many fish, waterfowl, and invertebrates. Photo credit Joe Costa Eelgrass in the Buzzards Bay EnvironmentĮelgrass ( Zostera marina L.) is a sub-tidal marine angiosperm, or “seagrass,” that grows in temperate waters, often forming extensive underwater meadows. Eelgrass in shallow waters at Uncatena Island (near Naushon Island in Buzzards Bay).
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