Patterns of Propeller Scarring of Seagrass in Florida Bay

摘要

Everglades National Park (ENP) encompasses over 2000,000 hectares of marines enviornments, including most of Florida Bay. The ENP portion of Florida Bay was federally designated as submerged wilderness in 1978. Much of Florida Bay supports submerged aquatic vegetation comprised of seagrass that provvides base areas o habitat for recreationally and commerically important fish and invertebrates. Florida Bays is a premier shallow-water recreational fishing destination and it is heavily used by recreational boaters for access to productive fishing areas. While the primary stressors in Florida Bay are related to watershed management, recreational boat use has also resulted in damage to benthic resources. Identification of propeller scarred seagrass beds has been a critical data need by park managers and the public in the development of the park's General Management Plan (GMP) and for natural resource management projects.