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seagrasses and associated biota. In response, the Minerals
Management Service (MMS), as the Federal agency responsible for
prediction and management of oil- and gas-related environmental
Impacts, initiated the Florida Big Bend Seagrass Habitat Study.
Study results are being used in buffer zone discussions associated
with upcoming eastern Gulf of Mexico lease sales and in formulation
of lease sale biological stipulations.
Earlier studies had summarized published reports on seagrass
distributional patterns, and qualitatively estimated the acreage of
seagrass beds and live-bottom areas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico
(Phillips, I960; Moore, 1963; Barle, 1972; Parker et al., 1983).
Between 1974 and 1980, Iverson and Bittaker (in press) used teams of
scuba divers to map the major nearshore seagrass beds (water depths