Program Info

Website
http://www.sarasota.wateratlas.usf.edu/seagrass/
Region(s)
SW
Summary
The Seagrass Scallop Archive feature layer stores point locations of sample seagrass locations in and around Sarasota County bay waters. The survey began in 2006, and has been conducted annually each winter during January and February. No survey was completed in 2018 due to red tide conditions. A partial / incomplete survey was completed in 2019 for the same reason. Prior to 2020, most information on algae refers to the level of Drift, as opposed to Rooted Algae types. After 2020, survey teams began to add information on rooted algae's present per site. Algae information can be recoded during all survey types and efforts. Lemon Bay data are limited to the upper portion of the bay which is in Sarasota County. Lower Lemon Bay is in Charlotte County and is not sampled by this program.
Parameters
Presence/absence of seagrass species, species percent composition, blade length, and percent cover, depth, transparency (secchi depth), presence of algae (drift and attached), epiphyte cover on seagrass blades, sediment composition. Prior to 2020, most information on algae refers to the level of Drift, as opposed to Rooted Algae types. After 2020, survey teams began to add information on rooted algaes present per site.
Notes
Sarasota County Public Works also coordinates an annual volunteer monitoring program to supplement these data, primarily in Sarasota Bay.
Application
To provide scientists, resource managers, legislators, and other stakeholders a summary of the status of seagrasses in Sarasota Bay.
Publications
Sarasota County Public Works. 2016-present. NPDES Annual Report on Seagrass. https://www.sarasota.wateratlas.usf.edu/seagrass/#seagrass-report
Start
2006
End
Current
Frequency
Annual
Method
field monitoring at 40 fixed and 120 random points
Discontinuity
No survey was completed in 2018 due to red tide conditions. A partial / incomplete survey was completed in 2019 for the same reason.
Data Location
https://data-sarco.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/sarco::seagrassscalloparchivelayer/explore/
Data Format

Habitats
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation
SEACAR Citation
Sarasota County (Florida). (2023). Sarasota County Seagrass Monitoring. Updated 01/30/2024. Distributed by: SEACAR Data Discovery Interface, Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection, Florida Department of Environmental Protection. https://data.florida-seacar.org/programs/details/568
Alternative Citation

indicates priority attributes

Contacts

Program Extent

Export Standardized Data

Habitat(s) : Indicator(s) Last Updated File Download
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation : Percent Cover 01/13/25 06:31 PM Download File - SAV - 568.zip
DIP Document N/A Download File - DIP

Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection Managed Areas

Lemon Bay

Indicators

Indicator
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation - Percent Cover
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation - Additional Indicators

Documentation and Data provided by program

File Type File Name Added On Details
Data Sarasota-Algae-Info-Table-LemonBayOnly.xlsx 10/27/23 11:58 AM View Details
Data SeagrassScallopArchiveCollection-LemonBay-Only.xlsx 10/06/23 12:20 PM View Details
Protocols 28-021 - SC Seagrass Monitoring - SOP.pdf 10/09/23 06:54 AM View Details