Submersed Plants Cloze Reading Passage

Name: ________________________________________________________

Class Period:______________________ Date:______________________

Submersed plants are large plants that grow primarily ______ the water's surface. Eelgrass, coontail, and _______ are examples of submersed plants. Some of these plants, like eelgrass and hydrilla, are rooted to the waterbody's _______ sediments. Hydrilla is a non-native plant that is considered to be a very invasive plant because it can grow very fast and it “takes over” the _________ habitat.
Submersed plants occur in virtually all Florida waterbodies. They provide _______ and ________ for fish and other aquatic animals. In an individual waterbody, the amount of _______, water clarity and water depth affect where ___________ plants will grow.

Word Bank:

below                         bottom            food              habitat             hydrilla

light              native            submersed

For more information about submersed plants:

http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/guide/subpla.html 
http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/cedepic.html
http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/vaampic.htm
http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/hyvepic.html

A collaboration of the UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants
and the Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Invasive Plant Management.
UE/EA 6/08/06
SSS: SC.F.1.2, SC.F.2.2, SC.G.1.2, SC.G.2.2, SC.H.1.2, SC.H.3.2, LA.A.1.2