Community Environmental Health Laboratory Eelgrass Monitoring 2013-Present
Citation
Disney J, Farrell A, Dorn N, Taylor A, Bailey C, Garretson A (2023). Community Environmental Health Laboratory Eelgrass Monitoring 2013-Present. Version 1.1. The Community Environmental Health Laboratory at MDI Biological Laboratory. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/nujzud accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-08-29.Description
About this project Eelgrass (Zostera marina), a species vital to the health of marine ecosystems is declining across the world. Help researchers track eelgrass populations. Add your reports of eelgrass presence and disappearance to help researchers understand this ecologically important underwater flowering plant! Project goal Help researchers gain a better understanding of eelgrass What participants do: Share observations of eelgrass' presence and disappearance in your local waters. Would you like to help researchers get a better picture of how eelgrass is faring worldwide? What we need to know: Is eelgrass growing in waters near you, or has it disappeared? Do you have photos? (optional) What other background information do you have that might be useful? What is Eelgrass? Eelgrass, or Zostera Marina, is an aquatic grass-like flowering plant that grows mainly in the subtidal zone in shallow coastal waters. Some plants produce tiny flowers in a “spathe”, pollinate under water, and spread by seeds leading to great genetic diversity among the plants. Others spread vegetatively by sending up lateral clonal shoots connected by “rhizomes”, runners that act to anchor the plant to the mud. Why is eelgrass important? Eelgrass is essential habitat for many commercial fish species, and its decline is correlated with the loss of fish stocks and diversity. The leaves are buoyant, rising into the water column, providing an excellent place for juvenile shellfish to attach to at a crucial stage in their life cycles when they need to feed on suspended plankton. By photosynthesizing under water, the plants increase dissolved oxygen. The root structure of eelgrass stabilizes and oxygenates the mud or sandy sediments, allowing invertebrates to settle. Identifying Eelgrass: Eelgrass grows mostly in the subtidal zone, but is sometimes exposed at low tide. Its leaves float up when submerged but lay flat when out of the water, and sometimes especially long blades float at the surface. People often confuse eelgrass with salt marsh grass, Spartina, but unlike eelgrass, that plant is rigid, standing upright out of the water, and is often visible extending above the water at high tide. Some identifying features of eelgrass to look for: Eelgrass leaves are thin, flattened blades. Inner leaves are new growth, older outer leaves begin to decay and fall off throughout the season. Blade length varies depending partially on water depth. The lower portion of the stem is surrounded by a thin sheath. Flowering plants have a spathe with male and female flowers, or may hold ovoid seeds. Flowering plants also have nearly yellow stalks (not all are flowering) The plants are anchored in the sediment with rhizomes, or runners from which other shoots and roots grow.Sampling Description
Study Extent
About this project Eelgrass (Zostera marina), a species vital to the health of marine ecosystems is declining across the world. Help researchers track eelgrass populations. Add your reports of eelgrass presence and disappearance to help researchers understand this ecologically important underwater flowering plant! Project goal Help researchers gain a better understanding of eelgrass What participants do: Share observations of eelgrass' presence and disappearance in your local waters.Sampling
What we need to know: Is eelgrass growing in waters near you, or has it disappeared? Do you have photos? (optional) What other background information do you have that might be useful? What is Eelgrass? Eelgrass, or Zostera Marina, is an aquatic grass-like flowering plant that grows mainly in the subtidal zone in shallow coastal waters. Some plants produce tiny flowers in a “spathe”, pollinate under water, and spread by seeds leading to great genetic diversity among the plants. Others spread vegetatively by sending up lateral clonal shoots connected by “rhizomes”, runners that act to anchor the plant to the mud. Why is eelgrass important? Eelgrass is essential habitat for many commercial fish species, and its decline is correlated with the loss of fish stocks and diversity. The leaves are buoyant, rising into the water column, providing an excellent place for juvenile shellfish to attach to at a crucial stage in their life cycles when they need to feed on suspended plankton. By photosynthesizing under water, the plants increase dissolved oxygen. The root structure of eelgrass stabilizes and oxygenates the mud or sandy sediments, allowing invertebrates to settle. Identifying Eelgrass: Eelgrass grows mostly in the subtidal zone, but is sometimes exposed at low tide. Its leaves float up when submerged but lay flat when out of the water, and sometimes especially long blades float at the surface. People often confuse eelgrass with salt marsh grass, Spartina, but unlike eelgrass, that plant is rigid, standing upright out of the water, and is often visible extending above the water at high tide. Some identifying features of eelgrass to look for: Eelgrass leaves are thin, flattened blades. Inner leaves are new growth, older outer leaves begin to decay and fall off throughout the season. Blade length varies depending partially on water depth. The lower portion of the stem is surrounded by a thin sheath. Flowering plants have a spathe with male and female flowers, or may hold ovoid seeds. Flowering plants also have nearly yellow stalks (not all are flowering) The plants are anchored in the sediment with rhizomes, or runners from which other shoots and roots grow.Method steps
- What we need to know: Is eelgrass growing in waters near you, or has it disappeared? Do you have photos? (optional) What other background information do you have that might be useful? What is Eelgrass? Eelgrass, or Zostera Marina, is an aquatic grass-like flowering plant that grows mainly in the subtidal zone in shallow coastal waters. Some plants produce tiny flowers in a “spathe”, pollinate under water, and spread by seeds leading to great genetic diversity among the plants. Others spread vegetatively by sending up lateral clonal shoots connected by “rhizomes”, runners that act to anchor the plant to the mud. Why is eelgrass important? Eelgrass is essential habitat for many commercial fish species, and its decline is correlated with the loss of fish stocks and diversity. The leaves are buoyant, rising into the water column, providing an excellent place for juvenile shellfish to attach to at a crucial stage in their life cycles when they need to feed on suspended plankton. By photosynthesizing under water, the plants increase dissolved oxygen. The root structure of eelgrass stabilizes and oxygenates the mud or sandy sediments, allowing invertebrates to settle. Identifying Eelgrass: Eelgrass grows mostly in the subtidal zone, but is sometimes exposed at low tide. Its leaves float up when submerged but lay flat when out of the water, and sometimes especially long blades float at the surface. People often confuse eelgrass with salt marsh grass, Spartina, but unlike eelgrass, that plant is rigid, standing upright out of the water, and is often visible extending above the water at high tide. Some identifying features of eelgrass to look for: Eelgrass leaves are thin, flattened blades. Inner leaves are new growth, older outer leaves begin to decay and fall off throughout the season. Blade length varies depending partially on water depth. The lower portion of the stem is surrounded by a thin sheath. Flowering plants have a spathe with male and female flowers, or may hold ovoid seeds. Flowering plants also have nearly yellow stalks (not all are flowering) The plants are anchored in the sediment with rhizomes, or runners from which other shoots and roots grow.
Taxonomic Coverages
Geographic Coverages
Primarily collected in Mount Desert Island, Maine
Bibliographic Citations
Contacts
Jane Disneyoriginator
position: Associate Professor of Environmental Health
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: jdisney@mdibl.org
homepage: https://mdibl.org/faculty/jane-e-disney-ph-d/
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4869-9802
Anna Farrell
originator
position: Former Community Environmental Health Laboratory Manager
MDI Biological Institute
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd
Bar Harbor
ME
US
Nathan Dorn
originator
position: AmeriCorps Environmental Steward
Maine Conservation Corps
Ashley Taylor
originator
position: Community Manager
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
ME
US
email: ataylor@mdibl.org
Cait Bailey
originator
position: Systems Developer
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: cait@mdibl.org
Alexis Garretson
originator
position: Community Environmental Health Laboratory Manager
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: agarretson@mdibl.org
homepage: https://alexis-catherine.github.io/
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7260-0131
Alexis Garretson
metadata author
position: Community Environmental Health Laboratory Manager
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: agarretson@mdibl.org
homepage: https://alexis-catherine.github.io/
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7260-0131
Alexis Garretson
user
position: Community Environmental Health Laboratory Manager
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: agarretson@mdibl.org
homepage: https://alexis-catherine.github.io/
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7260-0131
Alexis Garretson
administrative point of contact
position: Community Environmental Health Laboratory Manager
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: agarretson@mdibl.org
homepage: https://alexis-catherine.github.io/
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7260-0131
Jane Disney
administrative point of contact
position: Associate Professor of Environmental Health
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: jdisney@mdibl.org
homepage: https://mdibl.org/faculty/jane-e-disney-ph-d/
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4869-9802
Cait Bailey
administrative point of contact
position: Systems Developer
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: cait@mdibl.org
Ashley Taylor
administrative point of contact
position: Community Manager
Anecdata.org
email: ataylor@mdibl.org
Community Environmental Health Laboratory
administrative point of contact
position: Community Environmental Health Laboratory
MDI Biological Laboratory
159 Old Bar Harbor Rd.
Bar Harbor
04609
ME
US
email: CEHL@mdibl.org
homepage: https://mdibl.org/faculty/jane-e-disney-ph-d/
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4869-9802