The Chesapeake Bay: A Cradle of Life For The East Coast

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The Chesapeake Bay A Cradle of Life For The East
Coast
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Introduction

• Introduction to what the bay is and where it is
  located
• Bay and wetland ecology of the region
• A Brief history of the bay
• The importance of the bay
• Species diversity
• Benefits to humans
• Problems
• pollution
• Conservation
• The Chesapeake bay Program
• Other things being done to improve the bay

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About the Bay

• Word derived from a the Powhatan word
  chesepiooc meaning Great Shellfish Bay
• Largest Estuary in the United States- a mixing of
  salt and fresh water which fluctuates with the
  tide
• Drainage basin is 64,000 square Miles
• 11,600 miles of shore line including islands and
  wetlands (more than the west coast)
• 4 of the water shed is associated wetlands

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Watershed
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About the Bay

• Water shed is in six states
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Maryland
• Delaware
• Virginia and west Virginia

• Its Fed By 5 major rivers
• Susquehanna
• Potomac
• Rappahannock
• York
• James

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Wetlands

• The associated wetlands of the bay are vital to
  its health and productivity
• These areas serve as filters for harmful
  pollutants and excessive nutrients
• work as flood control for the rivers and
  surrounding communities
• Provides breeding grounds for fish and shell fish
• And is literally a smorgasbord of food for wading
  birds and waterfowl especially dabbling ducks

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Wetlands

• Has Two types
• Estuarine
• Tidal marshes flood by salt and brackish water
  fluctuating with the tide
• Usually has emergent salt tolerant grasses
• 200,000 acres
• Important to Fish, Shell fish and wading birds
• nursery for Blue fish, Mullet, and Flounder
• habitat for Blue Crabs, Oysters, clams, and
  Shrimp
• Which all provide food for various birds such as
  herons

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Wetlands

• Paulstrine
• 1.3 mil. Acres
• Freshwater wetlands along flood plains which are
  associated with the bays rivers
• Dominated by scrub brush and forests
• Important areas to waterfowl, song birds, beaver,
  muskrats, and white tailed deer

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Wetlands

• Estuarine
• A. Button bush     (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
  B. Big cordgrass    (Spartina cynosuroides)
• C. Narrow-leaved cattail     (Typha
  angustifolia)D. Black needlerush     (Juncus
  roemerianus)E. Saltmeadow cordgrass    
  (Spartina patens)
• F. Wild rice     (Zizania aquatica)G.
  Widgeon grass     (Ruppia maritima

• Palustrine
• A. Black willow     (Salix nigra)B. Red
  Maple    (Acer rubrum)
• C. River birch     (Betula nigra)D.
  Jewelweed     (Impatiens capensis)
• E. River bulrush     (Scirpus fluviatilis)F.
  Broad-leaved cattail     (Typha latifolia

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History

• In the Pleistocene era the glaciers started
  melting and 10,000 years ago the water reached
  the mouth of the bay
• Waters continued to rise until 3,000 years ago
  the bay was formed as we know it today
• The first settlers of the new world came across
  the bay and settled on its shores using it as a
  source of food.
• Used the fish and shell fish in the bay and were
  able to utilize the deer and water fowl
  populations as a further source of food.
• These settlers would later form into the great
  tribal powers of Native Americans our ancestors
  came across when traveling to the new world.

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History

• Vincente Gonzalez, a Spanish explorer, entered
  the bay in 1561
• 10 years later the Spanish left due to failed
  settlements
• In 1605 the French settled where Annapolis is
  today
• By 1608 Captain John Smith had fully explored and
  mapped the bay
• 1635 produced the first English colony on the
  bay established by Lord Baltimore
• For the next 400 years the bay became an
  important area for fishing, hunting, watermen,
  and even was an important foot hold during the
  revolutionary and civil wars

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Importance

• Ecological
• Works as an ecological indicator sort of like a
  Key stone species
• The health of the bay is directly related to the
  health of all its associated water ways and
  wetlands
• Also indicates how species in upper tributaries
  are doing
• It feeds and provides habitat for just about
  every type of organism found in that part of the
  world
• Therefore, it is a concentrated area for species
  diversity

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Species Diversity

• You can find a number of different waterfowl,
  raptors, mammals, song birds, Invertebrates,
  fish, and shellfish in the bay and its water
  shed.
• Waterfowl
• At one point in time the sky was full of
  migrating birds and the waters were littered with
  them.
• Now there has been a sharp decrease in population
  numbers and species diversity
• However generalist species have thrived due to
  diet adaptation

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Waterfowl

• The bay provides for dabbling ducks, diving
  ducks, geese, and swans.
• most abundant dabblers
• Mallards and black ducks
• Tend to be dependant on submerged aquatic veg.
• Mallard populations increasing while Black Ducks
  are decreasing
• Due to human interactions

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Waterfowl

• Divers
• Canvasbacks are the most abundant diving ducks in
  the bay
• Traditionally ate wild celery
• Depend primarily on clams for food
• The Redheads
• Only a few use the bay for breeding
• Decrease in food sources (SAV)

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Waterfowl

• Geese
• Canada Geese are the most abundant
• Tend to feed mostly on SAV but have switched to
  upland ag fields
• Swans
• Mute and tundra swans make use of the bay

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Waterfowl

• Other species of interest
• Wood Ducks and Red Breasted Mergansers
• Bufflehead
• Considered a sea duck preferring open water
• Tends to stay in waters of 4-15 feet
• Ruddy Duck
• Winters in the bay

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Water Birds and raptors

• Wading Birds
• Marshes important due to amount of food found
  there
• Some species are Sandpipers, Willets,
  Blackbellied Plovers, Blue Herons, and American
  Oyster Catchers

• Raptors
• Greatly depleted due to use of DDT
• Ospreys
• Bald Eagles
• One of the few places left on the east coast
  where they can be seen
• The bay provides the needed nesting and hunting
  grounds

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Species Diversity

• Fish
• Red Drum, Blue Fish, and Stripped Bass
• Resident and migratory species
• Catadromous- fresh to salt
• American Eel
• Anadromous- salt to fresh
• American Shad and White Perch
• Shell Fish
• Blue Crab, Oysters, clams, Grass, Mantis, and
  Skeleton Shrimp

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Species Diversity

• Mammals
• Red fox, Whitetail Deer, Raccoon, Bobcats, and
  Beavers

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Importance

• Its so damn Big
• The bay itself covers 418,000 miles, has 100,000
  associated rivers and streams, and 15 million
  people have contact with the bay or its water
  ways
• Other areas have affects on it as well
• Such as air pollution from as far away a s
  Kentucky, Indiana, and Canada
• Economic and Recreational
• Many people living on the bay make their living
  by utilizing its resources. (watermen)
• Crabbing is a huge industry
• Largest producer of crabs in the nation
• 1/3 of the countries crab meat comes from the
  bay
• 100 mil. Pounds of Blue Crabs come from the bay
  annually
• Watermen use crab pots and trotlines to catch
  crabs
• Oyster Harvest- considered a delicacy
• Bay used to have huge oyster bars but over
  harvest, sedimentation, and other pollution has
  decreased their numbers
• However bay is this one of the foremost oyster
  producers in the U.S.

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Economic and Recreational Benefits

• Harvest of other shellfish
• Claming and shrimp harvest are also worth
  mentioning
• Fishing
• Consumer Market Fishing
• Red Drum, Bluefish, and Tautog have been over
  harvested the past
• Others harvested are Catfish, Mackerel, and
  Flounder among others
• Sport Fishing
• Spanish Mackerel, Sturgeon, Black Bass, and
  Stripped Bass are just a few
• Boating
• Water skiing, pontoon boating, and sail boating
  are some favorite activities on the bay

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Economic and Recreational Benefits

• Hunting
• Especially water fowl
• With all the different species the bay is perfect
  for hunting
• Its a favorite past time of the watermen to hunt
  ducks
• Also an important economic aspect
• People come into bay communities to hunt and will
  spend money
• Deer hunting too
• With good deer populations in the marshes those
  in the Chesapeake bay area and in the water shed
  enjoy fruitful deer hunting
• Possibly a good way to make extra money for the
  watermen
• As guides or in lease hunting
• Bird watching
• With the many different species the bay and its
  marshes are great place for birders.

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Bay health

• What problems are there?- Pollution
• Can come from two source
• Point Source- pollution is derived from a
  specific location
• Non-point Source- pollution cannot be attributed
  to a certain location
• Nutrients
• Mostly Nitrogen and Phosphorous causing
  phytoplankton blooms and shutting out sunlight to
  SAV (eutrophication)
• Comes from septic systems, Urban storm water
  runoff, sewage treatment plants, and is declining
  in Ag but is still a factor
• Sedimentation
• Sediments carry nutrients along with them and
  have polluted water ways due to deforestation,
  urbanization, and clearing of land for
  agriculture
• Sediments are detrimental to oyster populations
  and SAV, and tends to clog channels

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Bay Health

• Air pollution
• Is derived from car emissions, power plants,
  industrial emissions, burning of fossil fuels,
  and even concentrated barnyard gasses
• Can lead to acid rain and fluctuation in water
  quality and PH
• Chemical Pollution
• Toxic chemicals just kill the organism but
  non-toxic chemicals can be detrimental to
  reproduction and development
• Some of the more common toxins in the bay are
  Zinc and Copper and it has some mercury as well
• Toxin come from pest control, power plants, and
  urban runoff (oil and greases)

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Conservation

• Whats being done?
• Clean Air and Water Act (1970)
• Attempts to keep the air and water systems clean
  within the U.S.
• Does so by limiting the amount of pollutants
  entering the system from point sources
• Requiring scrubbers in smoke stack, more
  efficient cars, etc
• Incorporating BMPs into logging and agriculture
  as well as urban development
• Education
• Programs funded by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation
• Boat tours
• School projects and trips
• Funding for wetland construction and conservation
  practices
• Web sites
• Such as http//www.chesapeakebay.net
• Museums
• Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
• Making the Public Aware

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Conservation

• Instituting conservation through governmental
  programs
• The Chesapeake Bay Program
• A multi-jurisdictional partnership working to
  restore and protect the bay and its resources
• Restoration
• Water Quality
• Increases riparian buffers, preserve forest and
  wetland, restore oyster populations
• Help to set Nutrient load regulations and how
  they are measured

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Chesapeake Bay Program

• Restoration
• Habitat Restoration
• Increasing shallow water SAV grasses
• Decreasing open water algal blooms (Decreases
  dissolved Oxygen and turbidity)
• Creating suitable nesting habitat on islands and
  shores
• Sound land use Practices
• On-site storm water management
• Keeping storm water from running into water ways
• Growth management
• Cluster zoning
• Leaving open spaces and riparian buffers
• Environmental sensitive site design
• Deciding where developments can be erected

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Chesapeake bay program

• Restoration
• Reducing Pollution
• Farmers, business, and industry have been trying
  to comply with conservation practices
• Individuals can concentrate on the conservation
  of electricity and water, car pooling, and yard
  waste
• Monitoring the health
• Looking at amounts of nutrients, toxins,
  sediments, dissolved oxygen, salinity, and water
  temp. can help monitor bay health
• Keystone species such as SVA, oyster populations,
  plankton and shell fish can also indicate the
  health of the system
• Fisheries management (States)

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Conservation

• Groups such as Ducks Unlimited are focused on
  constructing and preserving wetlands through
  raising funds and volunteering
• Some organizations are focused on bringing back
  the oysters to improve the Bays health
• Are filter feeders and work to reduce some of the
  phytoplankton buildup and sedimentation problems
• State harvest regulations
• Having more strict harvesting limits for watermen
  and sports fishermen.
• Reducing waterfowl bag limits

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Conclusions

• The Chesapeake bay is a huge estuary
• It is a cradle of life for all organisms in the
  area including humans
• It has a large species diversity
• Its important for economic, recreational, and
  environmental purposes
• The bay is in trouble with nutrient, sediment,
  toxin, and air pollution problems
• However steps are being taken to conserve this
  great resource
• Especially the Chesapeake Bay foundation and the
  Chesapeake Bay program

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Any Questions