Seagrass Project
Seagrasses are marine flowering plants with an important role in our marine environment. Seagrass meadows act as nurseries for wildlife such as juvenile fish and crustaceans and are also home to the elusive seahorse.
What are Seagrasses?
Seagrasses are the only group of flowering plants in the world able to live fully immersed in sea water. These nationally scarce plants favour shallow coastal areas and are found on sandy and muddy seabeds. Around the coasts of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight we have two species of eelgrass - Dwarf eelgrass (Zostera noltii) and common eelgrass (Zostera marina). We also have wigeon grass or tasselweed (Ruppia sp.).
Seagrasses may be uncovered at low tide or permanently submerged but they never grow deeper than a few metres underwater because they need a lot of sunlight for growth.
Unlike algae which evolved in the sea, seagrasses have evolved from land plants which have colonised the margins of the oceans. They are highly evolved and can complete their lifecycle underwater - they have waterproof pollen!
Why are they so important?
Seagrass meadows have long been recognised as an important habitat for marine wildlife. Underwater, the dense cover of leaves acts as a nursery for juvenile fish and crustaceans, like shrimps and crabs, and provide shelter from strong currents and predators. Seahorses favour these areas and anchor to the plants using their tails. These elusive creatures, although rare, are believed to live in meadows around the Isle of Wight.
As well as providing havens for certain species, seagrass is food for birds like brent geese, teal and swans especially when it is exposed at low tide. Its dense network of roots and rhizomes also acts to bind the sediment together. In this way seagrass beds can stabilise areas of sand or mud and act to protect the coastline from erosion.
What is the Solent Seagrass project?
We have been studying seagrass around the coasts of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to learn more about its distribution and the health of our local populations. In partnership with Southampton's National Oceanography Centre and with the help of volunteer Seasearch divers we have been mapping seagrass beds and recording information about the wildlife that inhabits them.
We have gathered historical records of seagrass around our counties from numerous sources to compile an inventory of seagrass for the area. By learning about where seagrass exists and where it has been lost we are better able to understand and protect it. Download a copy of the Seagrass Inventory.
If you would like to get involved in conserving seagrass in your area then the Solent Seagrass Project offers you this chance. We would like people to let us know when they find seagrass either on the shore or underwater, you can use this form to tell us about what you've found.
This could help to identify previously unrecorded seagrass meadows and allow us to champion the conservation of these wonderful but often under-appreciated habitats.
A Seagrass survey was carried out near Yarmouth, Isle of Wight in August and September, 2008. A copy of the report can be downloaded
Seagrass Reporting Form
Please download our Seagrass Reporting PDF, complete the online form, or contact the Marine Officer on 01489 774400.
More information
Anyone who would like to learn more about seagrass and how to survey it can attend our Seagrass Specialist course 22nd-23rd August 2009. For more details please contact the Marine Officer on 01489 774400.
Download a podcast about seagrass.
Purchase a copy of our DVD on the Solent Seagrass Project.
