Publications about Chesapeake Bay

IAN is committed to producing practical, user-centered communications that foster a better understanding of science and enable readers to pursue new opportunities in research, education, and environmental problem-solving. Our publications synthesize scientific findings using effective science communication techniques.

Ecological Forecasting and the Science of Hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay (Page 1)

Ecological Forecasting and the Science of Hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay

Testa JM, Clark JB, Dennison WC, Donovan EC, Fisher AW, Ni W, Parker M, Scavia D, Spitzer SE, Waldrop AM, Vargas V, And Ziegler G ·
2017

Chronic seasonal low oxygen condition (hypoxia) occurs in the deep waters of Chesapeake Bay as a result of eutrophication-induced phytoplankton blooms and their subsequent decomposition. Summertime hypoxia has been observed in Chesapeake Bay for over 80 years, with scientific attention and understanding increasing substantially during the past several decades after rigorous and routine monitoring programs were put in place.

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Submersed Aquatic Vegetation in Chesapeake Bay: Sentinel Species in a Changing World (Page 1)

Submersed Aquatic Vegetation in Chesapeake Bay: Sentinel Species in a Changing World

Orth RJ, Dennison WC, Lefcheck JS, Gurbisz C, Hannam M, Keisman J, Landry JB, Moore KA, Murphy RR, Patrick CJ, Testa J, Weller DE, And Wilcox DJ ·
2017

Chesapeake Bay has undergone profound changes since European settlement. Increases in human and livestock populations, associated changes in land use, increases in nutrient loadings, shoreline armoring, and depletion of fish stocks have altered the important habitats within the Bay. Submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) is a critical foundational habitat and provides numerous benefits and services to society.

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2016 Chesapeake Bay Report Card (Page 1)

2016 Chesapeake Bay Report Card

Caroline Donovan, Alexandra Fries, Dylan Taillie, Bill Dennison ·
8 May 2017

This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. In 2016, the report card includes five water quality indicators and two biotic indicators. In 2016, the overall grade for Chesapeake Bay is a 54%, a C. This means the Bay is in moderate health. Long term trends of each reporting region health and a fisheries index are also presented. For further details, visit the Report Card Website.

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Tidal water quality indicator factsheets (Page 1)

Tidal water quality indicator factsheets

Caroline Donovan, Suzanne Webster, Alexandra Fries ·
18 April 2017

The Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative (CMC), as part of the Indicator Effectiveness Matrix objective, produced 12 factsheets describing 14 tidal water quality indicators. These indicators are part of the CMC's tidal water quality Quality Assurance Project Plan and Method Manuals. The factsheets are intended for nontraditional and volunteer monitoring groups to include as part of their water quality monitoring programs as education materials for their volunteers.

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Improving riverine constituent concentration and flux estimation by accounting for antecedent discharge conditions (Page 1)

Improving riverine constituent concentration and flux estimation by accounting for antecedent discharge conditions

Zhang Q, Ball WP ·
2017

Regression-based approaches are often employed to estimate riverine constituent concentrations and fluxes based on typically sparse concentration observations. One such approach is the recently developed WRTDS (‘‘Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season”) method, which has been shown to pro- vide more accurate estimates than prior approaches in a wide range of applications.

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Assessing water quality of the Chesapeake Bay by the impact of sea level rise and warming (Page 1)

Assessing water quality of the Chesapeake Bay by the impact of sea level rise and warming

Wang P,Linker L, Wang H, Bhatt G, Yactayo G, K Hinson K and Tian R ·
2017

The influence of sea level rise and warming on circulation and water quality of the Chesapeake Bay under projected climate conditions in 2050 were estimated by computer simulation. Four estuarine circulation scenarios in the estuary were run using the same watershed load in 1991-2000 period. They are, 1) the Base Scenario, which represents the current climate condition, 2) a Sea Level Rise Scenario, 3) a Warming Scenario, and 4) a combined Sea Level Rise and Warming Scenario.

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Multiple stressors threaten the imperiled coastal foundation species eelgrass (Zostera marina) in Chesapeake Bay, USA (Page 1)

Multiple stressors threaten the imperiled coastal foundation species eelgrass (Zostera marina) in Chesapeake Bay, USA

Lefcheck JS, Wilcox DJ, Murphy RR, Marion SR, and Orth RJ ·
2017

Interactions among global change stressors and their effects at large scales are often proposed, but seldom evaluated. This situation is primarily due to lack of comprehensive, sufficiently long-term, and spatially extensive datasets. Seagrasses, which provide nursery habitat, improve water quality, and constitute a globally important carbon sink, are among the most vulnerable habitats on the planet.

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An improved method for interpretation of riverine concentration-discharge relationships indicates long-term shifts in reservoir sediment trapping (Page 1)

An improved method for interpretation of riverine concentration-discharge relationships indicates long-term shifts in reservoir sediment trapping

Zhang Q, Harman CJ, and Ball WP ·
2016

Derived from river monitoring data, concentration-discharge (C-Q) relationships are powerful indicators of export dynamics. Proper interpretation of such relationships can be made complex, however, if the ln(C)-ln(Q) relationships are nonlinear or if the relationships change over time, season, or discharge. Methods of addressing these issues by “binning” data can introduce artifacts that obscure underlying interactions among time, discharge, and season.

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2015 Chesapeake Bay Report Card (Page 1)

2015 Chesapeake Bay Report Card

Caroline Donovan, Alexandra Fries, Bill Dennison ·
17 May 2016

This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. In 2015, the report card includes five water quality indicators and two biotic indicators. In 2015, the overall grade for Chesapeake Bay is a 53%, a C. This means the Bay is in moderate health. Long term trends of each reporting region health and a fisheries index are also presented. For further details, visit the Report Card website.

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