Abstract
As part of the Alabama Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Restoration and Monitoring Program funded through the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council administered by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) conducted seagrass restoration activities in Lower Perdido Bay. This area experiences high recreational use by boaters, jet skiers, and kayakers; the prior recreational water craft have the potential to create propeller scars in shallow seagrass habitat. Propeller scar injuries disrupt the seagrass rhizome matrix and excavate sediments, leaving behind unvegetated trenches that may be up to 40 cm deep, 50 cm wide and hundreds of meters long. Once the damage occurs, wind, wave and current-induced erosion may further enlarge the trenches, creating injuries which heal very slowly, sometimes never recovering. The resulting fragmentation of the habitat may negatively impact the macrofauna that utilize seagrass beds, thereby compounding the overall ecological impact to seagrass ecosystems.
Restoration tools that can be implemented in a timely fashion and at a reasonable cost to repair vessel damage to seagrass communities are needed to facilitate early intervention for the prevention of scar erosion to enhance seagrass restoration. Simple PVC poles with a small platform, commonly referred to as birdstakes, encourage sea birds (e.g. cormorants, terns, pelicans and blue herons) to roost on the perches above the damaged portions. While resting, the birds deliver nutrient rich fecal matter onto the damaged seagrass below, and this limited nutrient addition can be advantageous for faster growing seagrasses like H. wrightii, decreasing the time to recovery of the damaged area. The data provided here document the restoration activities in the shallow seagrass habitats throughout Lower Perdido Bay
Purpose
OVERALL PURPOSE: The purpose of these datasets is to document recovery of propeller scars in seagrass habitats of Lower Perdido Bay through birdstake restoration activities.
DOI: 10.57778/gj52-t133
Suggested Citation
Byron, D. (2026). Seagrass propeller scar restoration in Lower Perdido Bay, Alabama 2021-2024 [Dataset]. dauphin. https://doi.org/10.57778/GJ52-T133
Related Publication Citation
Attribution
This project was paid for [in part) with federal funding from the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act). The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council or Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
