Seagrasses, marine flowering plants, have a long evolutionary history but are now challenged with rapid environmental changes as a result of coastal human population pressures. Seagrasses provide key ecological services, including organic carbon production and export, nutrient cycling, sediment stabilization, enhanced biodiversity, and trophic transfers to adjacent habitats in tropical and temperate regions.

Watershed management strategies generally involve controlling nonpoint source pollution by implementing various best management practices (BMPs). Currently, stormwater management programs in most states use a performance-based approach to implement onsite BMPs. This approach fails to link the onsite BMP performance directly to receiving water quality benefits, and it does not take into account the combined treatment effects of all the stormwater management practices within a watershed.

The Patuxent River watershed is a heavily impacted basin (2290 km(2)) and estuarine tributary (120 km(2)) of the Chesapeake Bay, USA. To assist management of the basin, we are testing a coupled modelling system composed of a watershed model (HSPF), an estuarine circulation model (CH3D), and an estuarine water-quality model (CE-QUAL-ICM).

The Patuxent River watershed is a heavily impacted basin (2290 km(2)) and estuarine tributary (120 km(2)) of the Chesapeake Bay, USA. To assist management of the basin, we are testing a coupled modelling system composed of a watershed model (HSPF), an estuarine circulation model (CH3D), and an estuarine water-quality model (CE-QUAL-ICM).

This is a practical handbook on how to communicate science effectively. The first part is an introduction to the principles of science communication-what effective science communication is, why it is important, and how effective science communication can change societal paradigms and make one a better scientist.

The Choptank and Patuxent tributaries of Chesapeake Bay have become eutrophic over the last 50-100 years. Systematic monitoring of nutrient inputs began in similar to 1970, and there have been 2-5-fold increases in nitrogen (N) and phosphor-us (P) inputs during 1970-2004 due to sewage discharges, fertilizer applications, atmospheric deposition, and changes in land use.

The Choptank and Patuxent tributaries of Chesapeake Bay have become eutrophic over the last 50-100 years. Systematic monitoring of nutrient inputs began in similar to 1970, and there have been 2-5-fold increases in nitrogen (N) and phosphor-us (P) inputs during 1970-2004 due to sewage discharges, fertilizer applications, atmospheric deposition, and changes in land use.

Large-scale blooms of Lyngbya majuscula (Gomont) have occurred throughout Moreton Bay (south-east Queensland) and have been documented since 1997. L. majuscula is a toxic cyanobacteria which fixes nitrogen and is found attached to: seagrass, algae and coral. The toxic and smothering nature of L. majuscula has affected human and environmental health in sensitive coastal ecosystems.

Subtropical estuaries have received comparatively little attention in the study of nutrient loading and subsequent nutrient processing relative to temperate estuaries. Australian estuaries are particularly susceptible to increased nutrient loading and eutrophication, as 75% of the population resides within 200 km of the coastline.

Multiple predator species can interact as well as strongly affect lower trophic levels, resulting in complex, nonadditive effects on prey populations and community structure. Studies of aquatic systems have shown that interactive effects of predators on prey are not necessarily predictable from the direct effects of each species alone.