MASC Newsletter 5 - Ecological Forecast, Summer 2006

This newsletter describes the methods used and the predictions for the 2006 summer ecological conditions in Chesapeake Bay. The forecast focuses on three important elements of the Bay's health-dissolved oxygen (DO), harmful algal blooms (HABs) and changes in bay grass distribution. This summer it is predicted that the amount of mainstem anoxia (low dissolved oxygen) will be moderate compared to previous years, that there is a moderate to high likelihood of harmful algal blooms in the Potomac River and that a small expansion in aquatic grasses is expected in the northern Bay and lower Potomac River.

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