Medical Sciences Commons^™

Influence Of Physical Setting On Seagrass Landscapes Near Beaufort, North Carolina, Usa, Mark S. Fonseca, Susan S. Bell

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Field surveys were conducted in Core and Back Sounds, North Carolina, USA, to relate the physical setting of seagrass beds, as measured by a wave exposure index (REI), tidal current speed and water depth, to various measures of the sedimentary environment, spatial heterogeneity of seagrass distribution and measures of seagrass abundance. Seagrass beds in this area form patterns ranging from continuous to semi-continuous to widely dispersed, discrete patches across a gradient of increasing hydrodynamic activity. Tidal current speeds, exposure to waves and relative water depths revealed strong correlative evidence that physical processes influenced landscape-scale (50 x 50 m range with …