Past Projects

Coastal and marine ecosystems: Potential Effects on U.S. Resources & Global climate change

August 2002
Victor S. Kennedy, Robert R. Twilley, Joan A. Kleypas, James H. Cowan, Jr., & Steven R. Hare

This is the eighth in a series of Pew Center reports examining the potential impacts of climate change on the U.S. environment. It details the likely impacts of climate change over the next century on U.S. coastal and marine ecosystems, including estuaries, coral reefs, and the open ocean. Coordinator: Dr Victor Kennedy

• Temperature changes in coastal and marine ecosystems will influence organism metabolism and alter ecological processes such as productivity and species interactions.
• Changes in precipitation and sea-level rise will have important consequences for the water balance of coastal ecosystems.
• Climate change is likely to alter patterns of wind and water circulation in the ocean environment.
• Critical coastal ecosystems such as wetlands, estuaries, and coral reefs are particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Common Ground Summit for Controlling Agricultural Nonpoint Sources of Nutrients

http://ian.umces.edu/commonground/

In October 2001, approximately 20 of the nation's leading experts on agricultural nutrient dynamics and nonpoint source controls and on the environmental fate and effects of nutrient pollution will convene in a summit at Wye, Maryland. These experts from agricultural and environmental sciences will seek common ground in terminology, understanding, and effective strategies for controlling nutrient losses from agriculture, a major cause of eutrophication of inland and coastal waters. This IAN project is supported by the Coastal Ocean Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Services (CSREES) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is being undertaken in cooperation with the Maryland Center for Agro-Ecology. Coordinators: Dr. Donald Boesch and Russell Brinsfield of the Center for Agro-Ecology.

Marine Pollution in the United States: Significant Accomplishments, Future Challenges

February 2001Donald F. Boesch, Richard H. Burroughs, Joel E. Baker, Robert P. Mason, Christopher L. Rowe, & Ronald L. Siefert

Marine Pollution in the United States: Significant Accomplishments, Future Challenges has been prepared by UMCES' faculty experts for use by the Pew Oceans Commission in evaluating national oceans policy regarding environmental quality and marine resources. The Pew Oceans Commission is an independent group of distinguished Americans conducting a national dialogue on the policies needed to restore and protect living marine resources in U.S. waters. The report on marine pollution is the first in a series being developed to inform the Commission's deliberations. The Center will also assist the Commission by bringing together experts on coastal development and habitat change to provide similar technical assessments. Coordinator: Dr. Donald F. Boesch. Direct discharges of pollutants into the ocean and coastal waters has been greatly reduced over the past 30 years. Ambient levels of some persistent toxic pollutants, such as DDT and PCBs, have been decreasing in most U.S. marine environments. However, pollution from land runoff is largely unabated, and in some cases it has increased. As a result, diffuse sources now contribute a larger portion of many kinds of pollutants than the more thoroughly regulated direct discharges. Overenrichment of coastal ecosystems by nutrients, particularly nitrogen, has emerged as the most widespread and measurable effect of pollution on marine ecosystems. Excessive nutrient levels may result in serious depletion of the dissolved oxygen supplies needed by marine animals, loss of habitat and algal blooms. Two-thirds of the surface area of estuaries and bays in the contiguous U.S. suffers one or more symptoms of overenrichment. Because a majority of the nutrients in most regions now come from diffuse sources rather than direct discharges, reversing coastal eutrophication will require management strategies for watersheds reaching far inland from the coastal environment. Feasible measures include advanced treatment of municipal wastewaters, reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants and vehicles, control of ammonia missions from animal feedlots, more efficient use of fertilizers and manure, and restoration of wetlands and floodplains that act as nutrient traps.

Census of Marine Life

http://www.coml.org/

UMCES scientists and their collaborators are undertaking a first-ever census of the many forms of life in the Chesapeake Bay. This will be based primarily on the rich database generated by the recently completed Trophic Interactions in Estuarine Systems (TIES) project, which coupled conventional sampling of fish and plankton with innovative and synoptic optical, acoustic, and remote sensing. Data from other sources, such as the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program, will also be integrated to provide seasonal summaries of the abundance of life at various size-classes and trophic levels, from phytoplankton to fish, on a Bay-wide basis. This is being undertaken as part of the international Census of Marine Life program as a test of the concept that such new technologies now allow the quantification of life in large marine ecosystems. Coordinator: Dr. Michael Roman.

Ecosystems and Global Climate Change:
A review of potential impacts on U.S. terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity

Dec 2000
Jay R. Malcolm & Louis F. Pitelka

This report was prepared for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change to provide an overview of the potential effects of climate change on natural terrestrial ecosystems and their component species. Published in December 2000, it is the fifth in a series of reports examining the potential impacts of climate change on the U.S. environment. Coordinator: Dr. Louis F. Pitelka.Consequences of Climate Change

Long-term observations now confirm that our planet has warmed over the 20th century and the scientific consensus is that Earth's climate will undergo dramatic changes in the 21st century. Climate change, something we are likely to experience in our lifetimes, is arguably the greatest challenge facing humankind in the new century.

The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change on Coastal Areas and Marine Resources

October 2000
Donald F. Boesch, John C. Field & Donald Scavia

This report, released by the Coastal Ocean Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of the U.S. National Assessment on global climate change, details the potential impacts of climate change on coastal and marine resources of the United States. Coordinator: Dr. Donald F. Boesch.

Coastal and marine ecosystems support diverse and important fisheries throughout the nation’s waters, hold vast storehouses of biological diversity, and provide unparalleled recreational opportunities. Some 53% of the total U.S. population live on the 17% of land in the coastal zone. Sea-level rise is projected to accelerate during the 21st century, with dramatic impacts in low-lying regions where subsidence and erosion problems already exist. Research is demonstrating that global changes may already be significantly impacting marine ecosystems, such as the impact of increasing nitrogen on coastal waters and the direct effect of increasing carbon dioxide on coral reefs. Scientific uncertainties and the long time scales relative to more immediate problems continue to act as barriers to the development and adoption of management responses. Thus, coping strategies should fully consider and integrate climate variability and change into coastal planning, and implement mitigation and adaptation mechanisms that offer the best chance for the long-term sustainability of coastal resources.

Science and Site 104: Long-term Options for Dredged Sediment Placement

September 1999
Joel E. Baker, Donald F. Boesch, William C. Boicourt, Walter R. Boynton, Shen-Yu Chao, Jeffrey C. Cornwell, Thomas R. Fisher, Jr., Edward D. Houde, Victor S. Kennedy, Robert P. Mason, Joseph A. Mihursky, Thomas J. Miller, Lawrence P. Sanford, David H. Secor, J. Court Stevenson, and David A. Wright.

Scientists from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science have evaluated the scientific understanding and uncertainty related to five issues regarding the environmental effects of placement of dredged sediments at Site 104, at the head of the deep, natural channel of the Chesapeake Bay. This assessment was based on reviews of relevant studies and impact statements as well as on the scientists’ extensive knowledge and experience concerning the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The results of the assessment are cast as a series of predictions, each of which is assigned a level of uncertainty: low-confident prediction of an outcome; medium-prediction of a likely outcome, but with some chance of surprise; and high-informed prediction with advised caution.