A vital component of the Mobile Bay system is the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) beds found in the shallow waters throughout the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and coastal Alabama. Healthy SAV habitats play a critical role in the ecological and environmental health of shallow coastal waters by providing food, shelter, and nursery habitat for a variety of ecologically and commercially important invertebrates, fishes, and waterfowl. They play an active role in maintaining good water clarity and reduce turbidity and  healthy SAV beds decrease wave action, reducing shoreline erosion. Despite its provision of many valuable ecosystem services, SAV is declining globally and areal declines in states bordering the Gulf of Mexico range from 20-100% (Handley et al. 2007).

In Alabama coastal waters, historical records are sparse, with the majority of records occurring within the past 20 years (see Vittor 2002, 2009, 2015, 2019). And while there has been an increase in spatial extent of SAV in recent years (Vittor 2019), tremendous losses have also occurred, with more than 50% of SAV lost from Mobile Bay since 1981 (USGS 2004). Many factors, both natural and anthropogenic, contribute to SAV decline, including tropical storms, abnormal rainfall patterns, direct damage caused by poor boating practices, dredging and coastal construction, and the addition of wastewater and excess nutrients to coastal waters. Plant communities at the receiving end of riverine systems may experience the greatest loss, as poor land management practices that increase runoff degrade water quality by increasing deposition of nutrients, sediments, and dissolved organic matter. Additionally, non-native species have become established in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and add to the complexity of the system. Areas that were once monospecies beds have become mixed with multiple species competing for resources, but these areas change over times as plant communities wax and wane over years depending on salinity, flow, tropical disturbances and competitive growth. 

Here we will discuss options for best mapping and monitoring practices: mid-resolution (1m pixel resolution) and high resolution (30 cm pixel resolution) aerial imagery with satellite imagery provide by Planet (3 m pixel resolution), as well as introduce a novel in-water sampling technique for annual species abundance and composition sampling in shallow deltaic regions where water clarity is limiting.