Blackwater

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Maryland Biogeography

• Coastal Plain
• Piedmont Province
• Upland
• Lowland
• Ridge/Valley Province Middle
• Appalachian Plateau Province
• Allegheny Mountain section

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The Coastal Plain

• The coastal plain is defined as the region that
  was once submerged continental shelf 280 mya
• Boundaries
• Atlantic ocean from Cape Cod south
• Fall line (Routes 1 and I-95

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Abiotic factors that created the Chesapeake Bay

• Glacial History
• Watershed
• Estuary
• Salinity
• Dissolved oxygen
• pH
• Turbidity

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Glacial History of the Chesapeake Bay
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Criteria that define Estuaries

• Semi- enclosed coastal area
• Free access to open ocean
• Fresh water derived from land drainage
  (measurably diluted)

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Major Tributaries of the Bay
Sassafras
Susquehanna
Chester
Choptank
Potomac
Nanticoke
James
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Abiotic factors in the Chesapeake

• Salinity
• Dissolved Oxygen
• Water Circulation

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Abiotic Factors

• Abiotic Factors can limit the
• Distribution
• Abundance
• Growth of organisms
• Remember that organisms are adapted to their
  particular environment or habitat
• They have a range of tolerance for abiotic
  conditions
• Abiotic factors can limit the types of organisms
  that survive in a habitat

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1. Salinity (g/L) ppt Fresh 0-0.5 ppt
oligohaline 0.5-5 ppt mesohaline 5-18
ppt polyhaline 18-32 ppt Ocean gt32 ppt

• Salinity affects the behavior of Animals
• Fish spawn in fresh water
• White perch and striped bass
• Eels spawn in ocean water
• Plant communities

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Salinity is a limiting factor
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2. Oxygen Content

• Layering of water prevents mixing of oxygen
  content
• Anoxic conditions tend to occur in the summer
• In the lower water levels of the Bay (organisms
  use up all the O2)
• Crab jubilee
• Fish kills
• Phytoplankton Blooms (Algal blooms) occur in the
  upper water levels of the Bay

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Nutrient Loading and Oxygen content

• Nitrogen and Phosphorus are often limiting
  factors for plant growth
• Addition of fertilizers
• Excessive inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus can
  lead to nutrient overloading
• Agricultural fertilizers
• Sewage
• Live stock facilities
• Result in Algal blooms

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Algal Blooms

• Phytoplankton grow rapidly
• Produce oxygen during the day through
  photosynthesis
• Consume oxygen at night through cellular
  respiration

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Algal Blooms

• Water turns green, brown, or even red
• The red tide
• The cell from hell Pfiesteria piscicida
• Dinoflagellate that produces a toxin that
  paralyzes fish and causes open sores
• Affects people too

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River flow strongly influences dissolved oxygen
and nutrient input in the Chesapeake Bay
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Preventing Nutrient Loading

• In 1987 Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia
  agreed to reduce nutrient loading by 40 by
  2000.
• Controlling run-off from agriculture
• Suburbs and urban areas
• Removing more nutrients from sewage and
  industrial facilities
• Banning phosphorus containing detergents
• Reducing fertilizer use
• Some changes happened, but nutrient loading was
  reduced by only 21
• A new agreement for reducing levels by the year
  2010

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3. Water Circulation

• Transports plankton
• Eggs
• Larvae
• Sediments
• Dissolved gases
• Minerals
• Nutrients

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Water fluctuation changes seasonally

• Spring and summer
• Fresh water from the northern part of the Bay
  forms a layer over the colder, more dense salt
  water coming up from the southern part of the Bay
• No mixing
• Fall and Winter
• Less fresh water from the north
• Atmosphere cools the upper layer of water
• More mixing

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• Temperature
• Temperature affected seasonally
• 0-32 º F in winter
• Up to 84 º F in summer
• Shallow or Deep waters have different temps
• Influences feeding
• Reproduction
• Movement of Organisms

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• Water turnover is important for circulating
  nutrients and replenishing oxygen
• Fall turnover
• Winter
• Spring turnover
• Summer thermal stratification

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3. Water Circulation

• Zones where fresh water and salt water collide
• Some fish use this zone as a nursery
• Turbidity increases nutrient cycling
• Increases phytoplankton growth
• Great food for young fish

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Dissolved oxygen content in the deepest parts of
the Bay (30m)
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Habitats and Communitiesof the Bay

• Habitat is any part of the environment where
  organisms live
• Forests
• Wetlands
• Islands
• Rivers and Streams
• Shallow water areas
• Open water
• Aquatic Reefs

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How deep is the Bay?
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Biotic Components of the BayHome to some 2000
species

• Bacteria
• Cyanobacteria
• Marsh and soil bacteria
• Protists
• Phytoplankton
• Zooplankton
• Plants
• Aquatic vegetation
• Marsh plants
• Forest species

• Animals
• Invertebrates
• insects
• crabs, snails, clams
• Vertebrates
• Fish
• Amphibians
• Reptiles
• Mammals
• Birds
• Fungi

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Marine Biomes Zones where plants and animals live

• Intertidal zone
• Shoreline between low and high tides
• Benthic zone
• The floor
• The Pelagic zone
• Open water
• Abyssal zone
• 4000-6000m
• Hadal zone
• Deeper than 6000m

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Primary Producers The Plankton Soup

• Phytoplankton
• Habitat Open and Shallow waters
• Primary Producers in the Estuary
• Cyanobacteria
• Diatoms
• Green algae
• Brown algae
• Dinoflagellates

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Habitats Shallow Waters

• Provide resources and conditions for survival of
  most of the species of the Bay
• Receives light
• Warm temperature
• Rich mud community
• SAVs
• Proximity to wetlands

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Submerged Aquatic Vegetation

• Also called sea grasses and seaweed, many are
  called Pond Weeds
• Are flowering plants belonging to the Monocots
• Adaptations to life underwater
• SAV leaves and stems lack the waxy 'cuticle'
  present in most terrestrial plants. Gases and
  nutrients can thus be exchanged between the plant
  and surrounding water.
• SAV leaves and stems also contain specialized,
  air-filled cells, called 'aerenchyma,' which
  provide the plants with additional bouyancy and
  support.

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Important Functions of SAVs

• Provide critical food and shelter for fish and
  wildlife, especially blue crabs
• Help remove nutrient harmful nutrient and
  sediments pollution from the Bay
• Stabilize sediment and reduce wave energy
• Vast areas of shallow water habitats have
  disappeared. So have the SAVs.
• Down to 10 of their historical range
• Development, marinas, pollution

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Shallow water species of the Bay
Crossostrea virginicus

• Oysters filter impurities out of water
• Scientists calculate that in earlier days when
  they were more numerous, they could have filtered
  the whole Chesapeake Bay in six days.

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Beautiful SwimmersCallinectes sapidus
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Aquatic Secondary Consumers

• Nekton of the Pelagic Zone
• Anchovies
• Menhaden
• Herring
• Shad

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Aquatic Tertiary Consumers

• Occupy the pelagic zone
• Mergansers
• Striped Bass
• Bluefish
• Sturgeon

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Why is this happening to the Bay?

• Population doubled within 50 years
• 8 million in 300 years
• 16 million in the last 50 years
• High resource-consuming and high-waste producing
  lifestyle
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) evaluates the Bay
  is operating at 27 of its capacity

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The State of the Bay 2008

• Shows modest improvement, with the health index
  up two points to 29 this year
• Much of the improvement was driven by Mother
  Nature,
• with near record low spring rains.
• Even with the improvement, the health of the Bay
  gets an unacceptable D grade.

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The Good News

• Were at a stasis point, we have stopped the
  decline
• Striped Bass population is recovering. Limited
  fishing is now permitted
• SAVs are returning!

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Local and State Efforts to Restore the Bay

• Smart Growth sustainable development
• CBF pushing for a new Bay governance that would
  have the authority and means to set firm limits
  on pollution