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.

Anthropogenic, Direct Pressures on Coastal Wetlands (Page 1)

Anthropogenic, Direct Pressures on Coastal Wetlands

Newton A, Icely J, Cristina S, Perillo GME, Turner RE, Ashan D, Cragg S, Luo Y, Tu C, Li Y, Zhang H, Ramesh R, Forbes DL, Solidoro C, Béjaoui B, Gao S, Pastres R, Kelsey RH, Taillie D, Nguyen Nhan N, Brito AC, Lima RD, Kuenzer C ·
2020

Coastal wetlands, such as saltmarshes and mangroves that fringe transitional waters, deliver important ecosystem services that support human development. Coastal … wetlands are complex social-ecological systems that occur at all latitudes, from polar … regions to the tropics. This overview covers wetlands in five continents. The wetlands … are of varying size, catchment size, human population and stages of economic … development.

Read more

Quantifying the Response of Nitrogen Speciation to Hydrology in the Chesapeake Bay  Watershed Using a Multilevel Modeling Approach (Page 1)

Quantifying the Response of Nitrogen Speciation to Hydrology in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Using a Multilevel Modeling Approach

Bertani I, Bhatt G, Shenk GW, Linker LC ·
2020

Excessive nitrogen (N) inputs to coastal waters can lead to severe eutrophication and different chemical forms of N exhibit varying levels of effectiveness in fueling primary production. Efforts to mitigate N fluxes from coastal watersheds are often guided by models that predict changes in N loads as a function of changes in land use, management practices, and climate. However, relatively little is known on the impacts of such changes on the relative fractions of different N forms.

Read more

Sediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long-term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA (Page 1)

Sediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long-term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA

Noe GB, Cashman MJ, Skalak K, Gellis A, Hopkins KG, Moyer D, Webber J, Benthem A, Maloney K, Brakebill J, Sekellick A, Langland M, Zhang Q, Shenk G, Keisman J, Hupp C ·
2020

This review aims to synthesize the current knowledge of sediment dynamics using insights from long-term research conducted in the watershed draining to the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the U.S., to inform management actions to restore the estuary and its watershed. The sediment dynamics of the Chesapeake are typical of many impaired watersheds and estuaries around the world, and this synthesis is intended to be relevant and transferable to other sediment-impaired systems.

Read more

2019 Chesapeake Bay & Watershed Report Card (Page 1)

2019 Chesapeake Bay & Watershed Report Card

Alexandra Fries, Sky Swanson, Dylan Taillie, Caroline Donovan, Max Hermanson, Heath Kelsey ·
19 May 2020

This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. Since 2016, UMCES has engaged stakeholders throughout the watershed to transform the report card into an evaluation of the Chesapeake Watershed health. Watershed health includes traditional ecosystem indicators, but also social, economic, and cultural indicators. This is the first year the watershed has been scored, using five indicators of ecological and socioeconomic health.

Read more

River Water‐Quality Concentration and Flux Estimation Can be Improved by Accounting for Serial Correlation Through an Autoregressive Model (Page 1)

River water‐quality concentration and flux estimation can be improved by accounting for serial correlation through an autoregressive model

Zhang Q, Hirsch RM ·
2019

Accurate quantification of riverine water‐quality concentration and flux is challenging because monitoring programs typically collect concentration data at lower frequencies than discharge data. Statistical methods are often used to estimate concentration and flux on days without observations. One recently developed approach is the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS), which has been shown to provide among the most accurate estimates compared to other common methods.

Read more

Long-term Annual Aerial Surveys of Submersed Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Support Science, Management, and Restoration (Page 1)

Long-term Annual Aerial Surveys of Submersed Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Support Science, Management, and Restoration

Orth RJ, Dennison WC, Gurbisz C, Hannam M, Keisman J, Landry JB, Lefcheck JS, Moore KA, Murphy RR, Patrick CJ, Testa J, Weller DE, Wilcox DJ, and Batiuk RA ·
2019

Aerial surveys of coastal habitats can uniquely inform the science and management of shallow, coastal zones, and when repeated annually, they reveal changes that are otherwise difficult to assess from ground-based surveys. This paper reviews the utility of a long- term (1984–present) annual aerial monitoring program for submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) in Chesapeake Bay, its tidal tributaries, and nearby Atlantic coastal bays, USA.

Read more

2018 Chesapeake Bay & Watershed Report Card (Page 1)

2018 Chesapeake Bay & Watershed Report Card

Alexandra Fries, Caroline Donovan, Dylan Taillie, Heath Kelsey, Sky Swanson, Bill Dennison ·
21 May 2019

This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. In 2018, the report card includes five water quality indicators and two biotic indicators. In 2018, the overall grade for Chesapeake Bay is a 46%, a C. This means the Bay is in moderate health. Despite the decrease in score from 2017, overall bay health is still significantly improving over time. Long term trends of each reporting region health and a fisheries index are also presented.

Read more

Estimation bias in water-quality constituent concentrations and fluxes: A synthesis for Chesapeake Bay rivers and streams (Page 1)

Estimation bias in water-quality constituent concentrations and fluxes: A synthesis for Chesapeake Bay rivers and streams

Zhang Q, Blomquist JD, Moyer DL, Chanat JG ·
2019

Flux quantification for riverine water-quality constituents has been an active area of research. Statistical approaches are often employed to make estimation for days without observations. One such approach is the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) method. While WRTDS has been used in many investigations, there is a general lack of effort to identify factors that influence its estimation bias.

Read more