Seagrass is a flowering grass with long, narrow leaves of green. Growing in shallow, aquatic meadows; seagrass is a flowering grass with long, narrow leaves of green. It has many amazing functions, and it's meadows are filled with biodiversity. "They contain literally thousands of creatures in one square meter."¹ These organisms can range from small shrimp, predatory fish, and sea turtles, to even seahorse and sea dragons. Seagrass not only provides protective shelter and nursery for marine organisms, but the detritis or dead plants provide a source food.

In addition to providing a protective habitat and food source, seagrass has many other important functions, it protects the coast line from currents; thereby reducing erosion. Secondly, it reduces eutrophication and improves water clairty. The water claity is improved because the dense root system reduces sedimentation by trapping sediments between the blades of grass. It reduces nutrients from land runoff because the seagrass uptakes the nutrients as a source of food. When excessive nutrients and sedimentation load the water, undesirable plants like algae may take over. Between the algal blooms and sedimentation, the sunlight is reduced, and the seagrass dies.

Declining world wide, sea grass is an endangered specie. "In Florida alone, there has been a 35% reduction."² This decline is due mostly to pollution, poor water quality, coastal development, loss of tidal marshes, dredge-filling, boat anchoring, and prop-scarring (damage from boat propellors).

In addition to the wide array of functions seagrass fulfills, it is also used commercially for functional and decorative items. Some of the items made out of seagrass are baskets, mats, and furniture among many other items. In other parts of the world, sea grass is used for house insulation, thatched roofs, and stuffing material for pillows and mattresses.

REFERENCES

1. "Seaplants and Seagrass Meadows"

http://alcoa.com/australia/environment/resources/Coastal%20Capers/MB%20-Sea%20Plants%20and%20Seagrass%20Meadows.pdf

2. USGS "Seagrass Registration in Tampa Bay, Florida" http://gulfsci.usgs.gov/dev/tampabay/conf2002/se_kellg/

3. "Flora and Fauna of Northwest Florida" http://www.uwf.edu/rsnyder/ffnwf/seagras/seagras.html

4. "Sea Grass" http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Seagrass.htm

5. The Encyclopedia of Earth "Seagrass Meadow" http://www.eoearth.org/article/Seagrass_meadows