ch. 1. General introduction -- ch. 2. The distribution of burrowing shrimp disturbance in Philippine seagrass meadows (to be submitted to Estuarine, coastal and shelf science) -- ch. 3. Aboveground behavior of the snapping shrimp : Alpheus macellarius Chace, 1988, and its significance for leaf and nutrient turnover in a Philippine seagrass meadow (submitted to Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology) -- ch. 4. Burrows and behavior of the snapping shrimp : Alpheus macellarius, Chace, 1988, in different seagrass substrates (submitted to Marine biology) -- ch. 5. Growth response of the dominant seagrass : Thalassia hemprichii (Ehrenberg) Ascherson to experimental shrimp distrubance (submitted to Marine ecology progress series) -- ch. 6. General discussion and conclusions.