Seagrasses
Seagrasses are highly specialised marine flowering plants adapted to soft sediments of nearshore environments. Although there are relatively few species of seagrasses globally (<70 species), these plants have evolved from several lineages of land plants and are adapted to a totally submersed life. Seagrasses are a productive, widespread and ecologically significant feature of nearshore environments. Seagrasses indirectly support various coastal fisheries, largely through provision of a nursery habitat for juvenile animals. Unlike algae, seagrasses have roots and vascular tissue allowing them to absorb and translocate nutrients from soft sediment. In low nutrient environments this provides seagrass with a competitive advantage over algae as they can access the higher nutrient concentrations available in the sediment compared to the overlying water. Seagrass habitats directly and indirectly support many coastal fisheries through the provision of important habitat for both juvenile and adult animals.
Moreton Bay Seagrass species Cymodocea serrulata Zostera capricorni Syringodium isoetifolium Halophila ovalis Halophila spinulosa Halodule uninervis More information A guide to Tropical Seagrasses of the Indo-West Pacific Authors: Michelle Waycott, Kathryn McMahon, Jane Mellors, Ainsley Calladine and Diana Kleine Published by James Cook University, 72pp softcover ISBN 0 86443 726 9 Copies are available for A$ 22.00 (incl.GST)+ postage Download orderform or contact seagrass@jcu.edu.au or visit www.jcu.edu/school/tropbiol/seagrass Moreton Bay Seagrasses 4p handout June 2003 download pages 4-1 (pdf 720KB) 2 (pdf 1048KB) 3 (pdf 931KB)