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.

New Stream Health Indicator Being Developed (Page 1)

New Stream Health Indicator Being Developed

Katie Foreman, Caroline Donovan, Emily Nauman, Bill Dennison ·
2 April 2009

The Chesapeake Bay Program and its partners developed an improved stream health indicator that provides a regional assessment of benthic (bottom-dwelling) macroinvertebrate community health. Benthic data collected in different ways by various natural resource agencies were incorporated into a Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity that rates stream health across the entire 64,000 square miles of watershed that drain into Chesapeake Bay.

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Northern Great Plains Network: Using conceptual diagrams to aid communication (Page 1)

Northern Great Plains Network: Using conceptual diagrams to aid communication

Jane Hawkey, Ben Longstaff, Bill Dennison ·
27 January 2009

Conceptual diagrams are effective tools in identifying resource condition trends and for communicating inventory and monitoring data back to national park management and the general public. This newsletter presents the project results from an IAN collaboration with four National Park Service (NPS) Northern Great Plains Network (NGPN) park units and the NGPN Inventory & Monitoring (I&M) Program.

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Research to improve management of Atlantic menhaden in Chesapeake Bay (Page 1)

Research to improve management of Atlantic menhaden in Chesapeake Bay

Ben Longstaff, Caroline Donovan, Emily Nauman ·
21 October 2008

From both an economic and ecological standpoint, Atlantic menhaden are one of the most important fish species in Chesapeake Bay. Concerns over localized depletion and a need for improved understanding of the ecological role of menhaden in Chesapeake Bay led the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to identify research needed to improve menhaden fisheries management. This newsletter provides the status of some of the resulting projects.

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Maryland at Risk: Sea-level rise adaptation & response (Page 1)

Maryland at Risk: Sea-level rise adaptation & response

Jane Thomas ·
30 September 2008

Action is needed now to stem not only the drivers of climate change but also to prepare for the inevitable consequences. With over 3,000 miles of coastline, Maryland is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Historic tide-gauge records reveal that sea levels along Maryland's extensive coastline have risen approximately one foot over the past one hundred years. This relative sea level rise is due to a combination of global sea-level rise and localized land subsidence.

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Upstream land use affects water quality in Maryland's Coastal Bays

Kris Beckert, Ben Fertig, Tim Carruthers, Bill Dennison, Emily Nauman ·
1 August 2008

Coastal lagoon ecosystems across the Delmarva Peninsula are rapidly evolving due to changing land use patterns and shifts towards intensive agriculture, particularly poultry production, and intensive rural-resiĀ­dential development. These changes in the coastal lagoon seascape are especially evident in the northern Coastal Bays watershed of St. Martin River.

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Reef Plan Monitoring: Marine Water Quality Impacts (Page 1)

Reef Plan Monitoring: Marine Water Quality Impacts

Bill Dennison, Ben Longstaff, Jane Thomas ·
2 March 2008

The Marine Monitoring Program is a long-term water quality and ecosystem heath monitoring program carried out in the inshore region of the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon. The program is an integral component of the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, that will help to assess the long-term effectiveness of Reef Plan in reversing decline in the quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

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A summer of poor water clarity, algal blooms, and fish kills (Page 1)

A summer of poor water clarity, algal blooms, and fish kills

Ben Longstaff, Emily Nauman, Caroline Donovan, Bill Dennison, David Jasinski ·
28 November 2007

This year's drought led to lower than normal nutrient and sediment discharge into the Bay during the summer. With fewer sediments and nutrients entering the Bay, the health of the Bay may have been expected to improve, however, this was not the case for water clarity, harmful algal blooms, and fish kills. While dissolved oxygen in the mainstem was still poor this summer, the volume of oxygen depleted water was relatively small compared to the past 22 years.

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