Submerged Aquatic Vegetation

Approximately 75% of the seagrass beds in New Jersey occur in the Barnegat Bay estuary. Seagrasses grow along the shallow margins of the bay in waters less than one meter in depth. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is the dominant seagrass species in SAV beds south of Toms River, while mixed eelgrass and widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) beds are found in the central and northern portions of the bay.
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What is Submerged Aquatic Vegetation?

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Amazing Aquatic Grass

Seagrasses, like the grasses in a meadow, serve as the base of the web, supplying food to grazers and energy to the entire ecosystem.  Seagrasses provide habitat and food for many recreation­ally and commercially important estuarine and marine species, such as bay scallop (Argopecten irradians), blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), and weakfish (Cynoscion nebulosus). Seagrass beds also serve as important spawning and nursery grounds for finfish populations in the estuary.

Essential Habitat

Not only does seagrass in the Barnegat Bay provide habitat for animals living in the seabed, it is critical spawning, nursing, and feeding habitat for many recreationally and commercially vital finfish species in the estuary.

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Nature's Filter

In addition to providing valuable habitat, seagrasses play a significant role in nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, filtering of essential elements, sediment stabilization, and wave dampening. These ecosystem services provide many benefits to coastal communities.

 
 

Seagrass Habitat

Seagrasses are excellent indicators of water and sediment quality. By assessing the condition of seagrass beds over time, it is possible to establish accurate trends in the condition of the bay. Seagrasses are impacted by water nutrient levels, elevated water temperatures, ice scouring, damage from boat props and anchors, disease, light intensity fluctuations caused by dredged or storm-tossed sediments, and excessive growth of algae.
Unfortunately, major declines in biomass and percent SAV cover have been reported in some sectors of the estuary since the 1970s (Bologna et al., 2000). A more recent study revealed an ongoing decline in biomass and percent cover of bay bottom (Kennish et al., 2009) attributed to increasing eutrophication due to shading of the shallow SAV beds by algal blooms and attached microalgae on the stems. Additionally, the species composition of seagrass beds in the bay appear to be changing from eelgrass to widgeon, which can affect the ecosystem services provided.
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Effect of Warming Waters and Rising Seas on Barnegat Bay’s Seagrass Habitat

Don’t Harass the Seagrass Campaign

Learn about seagrasses and ways to protect them through his comic created by Squidtoons, a company dedicated to translating scientific research into engaging illustrations to connect the public and the scientific community.
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BBP Seagrass
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UNKNOWN

There is limited data available to quantify Wetland and Riparian Buffer Preservation, or updated data to quantify Wetland Acreage. The BBP has obtained funding and will begin assessment efforts for both targets, in the next few years.

 

 Hard Clam abundance has not been updated since 2012. Recovery of the stock will be guided by the Fishery Management Plan for Hard Clams, which is under development with the NJDEP, BBP, and other organizations. Reclam the Bay and other partners have continued to plant clams for restoration purposes. Continued plantings in strategic locations which maximize survival and reproduction is one strategy to pursue in the coming years. This work can use a model developed by Rutgers with BBP funding which identified areas where planted clams could have the greatest dispersal of their larvae and thus potentially maximally contribute to the recovery of the stock.

 Water Withdrawals were over the target in the 2021 report; USGS has not yet completed its latest update, so a definitive determination of status is not available. However, additional NJDEP data show that it is likely that we continue to not meet the target. Per capita water use has gone down, demonstrating the effectiveness of water-saving appliances and practices, but that decrease has been offset by population gains. 


IN PROGRESS

New maps quantifying Submerged Aquatic Vegetation extent were developed, but poor image clarity resulted in a high degree of uncertainty in the total acreage. NJDEP and Rutgers are working to resolve the uncertainty of these maps, and improve the total acreage estimate. Funding has also been obtained for further research and restoration activities. Several groups are developing potential restoration actions.

The USGS has completed the first phase of its study to identify minimum ecological flows in select Barnegat Bay tributaries. USGS scientists compared streamflow statistics between historical and current time periods to better understand trends in watershed flow conditions. This work provides a foundation for developing ecological flow targets in the Barnegat Bay watershed.  Similar to SAV extent, funding (approximately $450K) has been obtained by the BBP to complete the remaining phases necessary for threshold determination.

 

TARGETS ACHIEVED

No targets can be considered “Achieved” at this time.

 

NOT ACHIEVING

Several Public Swimming Beaches exceeded their safe swimming standards more frequently than during their baseline time period (2016-2018).

While most beaches are routinely safe for swimming, several problematic areas such as Beachwood, Hancock, Windward, and several lake beaches need track-down studies and restoration to pinpoint and address sources of bacteria.

Acres of Approved Shellfish Waters decreased from the last report. While this decrease was small, it represents a loss of previously approved waters. Similar to public beaches, track-down studies and restoration work are needed to pinpoint and address sources of bacteria.

 

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation

Approximately 75% of the seagrass beds in New Jersey occur in the Barnegat Bay estuary. Seagrasses grow along the shallow margins of the bay in waters less than one meter in depth. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is the dominant seagrass species in SAV beds south of Toms River, while mixed eelgrass and widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) beds are found in the central and northern portions of the bay.

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