. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. SEA SCIENCE. School of the Environment in Beaufort, is quite familiar with the area waters. Some North Carolina species rely on eelgrass habitat for part of their lives, she says. "North Carolina is looking at how all submerged aquatic vegetation figure in coastal habitat protection plans (CHPPs) being developed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)," says Selberg. North Carolina is taking a unique approach with these plans, and other states are interested in seeing h
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. SEA SCIENCE. School of the Environment in Beaufort, is quite familiar with the area waters. Some North Carolina species rely on eelgrass habitat for part of their lives, she says. "North Carolina is looking at how all submerged aquatic vegetation figure in coastal habitat protection plans (CHPPs) being developed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)," says Selberg. North Carolina is taking a unique approach with these plans, and other states are interested in seeing how the process works, she says. Results from studies, such as Touchette's, could shed an important light on seagrass systems — what they contribute to the overall fish habitat, and how they are impacted by human activities, Selberg points out. Mike Street, chief of the habitat protection section for the Division of Marine Fisheries, is coordinating the CHRP effort. He says submerged aquatic vegetation, such as eelgrass, are important for food, cover, spawning and migration corridors. Known in scientific shorthand as SAVs, they are one of the six habitat types that are being considered as DENR develops protection plans. Other habitat types are the water column, shell bottoms, wetlands, ocean hard bottoms, and soft estuarine and riverine bottoms. "We want to show the links between each habitat, habitat function and the lifecycle of fish," Street says. "It's a huge task. But it is extremely important to develop habitat protection plans that can be used as manage- ment ; Reliable scientific data to support each area is vital, he says. Mark Fonseca, research ecologist at the NOAA Beaufort Lab, agrees with other colleagues who consider seagrasses "the canaries in the ; "If the seagrasses are in good shape, it's a pretty good sign that the water quality is in good shape," Fonseca points out. "In North Carolina, they s
Size: 1804px × 1385px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
