The Bocas del Toro archipelago in the Caribbean sea on the northwest coast of Panama has high annual rainfall (> 3000 mm) and a mountainous watershed, resulting in high inflow of fresh water. The two main lagoons have different geologic structure and different inputs; while Bahia Almirante has carbonate sediment and a relatively small watershed, Laguna de Chiriqui has predominantly siliclastic sediment and a very large watershed.

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This data report details the results of an intensive sampling effort by the Integration and Application Network in the Maryland Coastal Bays. A spatially explicit Water Quality Index was developed from standard water quality analyses and a relatively new stable isotope technique.

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This report summarizes monitoring data collected over the past several years for water quality, aquatic living resources, and habitat categories. It utilizes conceptual diagrams for each reporting region to highlight the key ecosystem processes, biota and estuarine health problems.

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Management of coastal systems is becoming increasingly important, however understanding the process of effective management often remains elusive. This chapter contrasts examples of environmental problems and associated management in Moreton Bay, Australia, and Chesapeake Bay, USA. Targeted research in Moreton Bay identified specific issues which led to changed practices, while intense management and research in Chesapeake Bay has been unable to keep pace with increasing anthropogenic stress.

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This poster summarizes the key features of the seagrass communites in the Bocas del Toro archipelago, Panama. Seagrass meadows within this region are strongly influenced by their proximity to coral reefs, mangrove forests and coastal rivers. Reef, mangrove and river inputs influence sediment type and water clarity, two very important factors affecting the occurrence and abundance of seagrass meadows.

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This poster presents data from the lagoons along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, a region undergoing appreciable growth. The region is characterized by karst limestone without appreciable surface drainage or rivers. However, there are various submarine springs and fissures that deliver runoff to coastal waters. The tropical seagrass Thalassia testudinum was sampled near the developed regions of Cancun as well as in the Puerto Morelos lagoon to the south.

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This science newsletter focuses on the role of the Integration and Application Network (IAN) in achieving healthy Chesapeake waterways. This is the first in a series of IAN newsletters on topical issues and is directed towards the scientific and technical audience. This newsletter identifies IAN's vision for Healthy Chesapeake Waterways and includes an overview of environmental problem solving, through transfer of data into information into knowledge and ultimately into problem solving.

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Seagrass meadows are considered important for sediment trapping and sediment stabilisation. Deposition of fine sediments and associated adsorbed nutrients is considered an important part of the chemical and biological processes attributed to seagrass communities. This paradigm was based on work in temperate regions on Zostera marina and in tropical regions on Thalassia testudinum, two species that maintain relatively high biomass, stable meadows.

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Measurement of light penetration in relation to seagrass

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Effective management of estuarine systems that contain submerged aquatic macrophytes, requires knowledge of whether macrophyte populations are stable, increasing or decreasing in terms of aerial coverage and abundance. This study established three transects within Wilson Inlet and monitored them five times during 1996 for percent cover of Ruppia megacarpa and maximum depth limits of these meadows.

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