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The creeping rhizomes of Johnson’s seagrass can be found throughout a patchwork of lagoons in southeastern Florida. This miniature grass provides a refuge for small marine animals and a nursery for the young. Large herbivores, like the green sea turtle and Florida manatee, frequently feed on Johnson’s seagrass leaves. Seagrass meadows, though often overlooked, provide an important link to the many communities that comprise the aquatic web of life.
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE
PROTECTION STATUS: Threatened
YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 1998
CRITICAL HABITAT: 22,574 acres of Florida lagoons designated in 2000
RECOVERY PLAN: 2002
RANGE: Fragmented distribution along 125 miles of coastline in southeastern Florida from Sebastian Inlet to Biscayne Bay
THREATS: Agricultural and urban runoff, dredging, boating activity, trampling, and increased severity of hurricanes and storms driven by global warming
POPULATION TREND: Information on Johnson’s seagrass is rare, though one study found that all of the seagrass species in the Florida region have declined by 16 percent since 1986. Johnson’s seagrass is the least abundant seagrass within its range.
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OUR CAMPAIGNS FOR JOHNSON'S SEAGRASS
In 1998, Johnson’s seagrass was granted protection as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act after the Biodiversity Legal Foundation (later absorbed by the Center) petitioned and litigated for its protection. Critical habitat for this imperiled marine plant was designated just two years later.
Seagrasses are a valuable part of Florida’s marine ecosystems, but they are today being destroyed at alarming rates. Dredge-and-fill projects degrade water quality, bury plants, and redistribute sediments. Careless boating activity, propeller scarring, anchoring, and mooring leave broken root systems and an unstable substrate in their wake. As if these threats weren’t enough, given the extremely limited range of Johnson’s seagrass, these plants face an even greater risk of extinction with the increase in hurricane activity due to global warming.
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Contact: Brendan Cummings
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