Students study sea grass as aid to animals

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) — A small team of students from Elizabeth City State University is doing research on sea grasses to find out more about the key link in the $1.75 billion North Carolina seafood industry.

Students Benjamin Graham and Josh Phelps secured a research project and will have the opportunity to present their findings at conferences and publish their work.

An $82,214 contract from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will fund the project in the Albemarle and Currituck sounds.

Twice a week, Phelps wades in water chest deep to collect samples from the sites that Graham later evaluates and processes in the biology lab. Phelps says several steps are involved before he can return to the campus lab.

The goal of the grant is to see if populations of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) species differ based upon their genetic background.

The work is part of a larger study. Maurice Crawford of ECSU is the principle investigator on the research project and Margaret Young is the co-investigator.

Currently, the students and ECSU professors are trying to find the best technique to extract DNA from the SAV samples. Results from these findings will provide a better understanding of how to restore SAV habitat. In addition, scientists will learn if SAV are genetically distinct or if they are clones that have reproduced asexually.

Traditionally if you want to replant sea grass, you go to a spot that has them and uproot some and plant them in the area that doesn't, Dr. Crawford said.

What he wants to know more about is how sea grass reproduces. That will be able to tell him if it would be better to uproot donor plants every 10 feet apart because it might include more diversity than harvesting them every two feet apart because they might be clones.

Young explained that if all the plants in a given area are clones of each other, they might not adapt if moved to an area that has different characteristics. If they are genetically different, they could adapt better.

Some efforts to replant grasses have failed, but Crawford said he was involved in an effort in Beaufort in the mid-1990s that is still thriving.

At stake is a lot more than just finding out about sea grass. The plants that grow underwater, in addition to producing dissolved oxygen that fish need, filters pollution and serve as food, hiding places and home for fish, shellfish and crustaceans.

The success or failure of efforts to improve water quality and marine animals impacts the North Carolina fishing industry, which employs 24,000 people.

Environmental economists value the sea grass areas at about $12,000 per acre per year because of its importance to fisheries and overall aquatic health.

When the plants flourish, people notice that fishing and water quality gets better. When they die, the reverse happens. When the eight-mile-long mid-Currituck bridge is built, mitigation will almost certainly be required because of the impact it will have on sea grasses.

In the 1970s, grasses grew in underwater meadows in the sounds and in Back Bay to the north, according to the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program. Fishing and duck hunting were some of the best in the country. The vegetation then disappeared during the 1980s. Opinions varied on why that could be, from pollution to cloudy water to an imbalance in saline levels. In about 2009 things began to improve.

"We take water quality samples. You must measure light penetration of the water, take air and water temperature readings (and) test the water's salinity," Phelps said. "Once we do water quality tests, we take core samples to estimate population levels of plants in the area."

"Research projects like this help to prepare you for the work world and keep you involved in current science," Graham said. "You have to figure out how to understand the challenges of different techniques. I would recommend research projects for other students. You must be willing to spend 10 to 15 hours a week in the lab. It holds my attention, too."