Geography 318 - Natural Environment of Chesapeake Bay

Spring 2001 

Andrew J. Miller, UMBC Department of Geography & Environmental Systems

This is a "no-frills" homepage designed primarily to provide you with quick access to World Wide Web resources containing information about Chesapeake Bay research.
Some of the sites listed here provide general information about a program or agency. Some, on the other hand, provide detailed reports on research results. Some will be assigned reading for class; others are provided as background for more specialized interests.Let me know if you find any other interesting sites that should be included here.


The shaded relief map was produced by Ray Sterner at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The color-coded AVHRR satellite image depicts water-surface temperatures from a date in November 1996.

Pictures from Spring 1997 class field trip - Keith Lichtenauer

EVALUATING INTERNET RESEARCH SOURCES

GUIDELINES FOR CITING INTERNET REFERENCES

Introduction to estuaries

Chesapeake Bay Links

Links to Chesapeake Bay related web sites
Chesapeake Bay Factsheet (Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay)
Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
Basinwide Information On-Line Service (BIOS)
State of the Bay Report (from Chesapeake Bay Foundation)
Environmental Education (from CBF)

Estuary-Net Project
National Geodetic Data Center - detailed digital bathymetry of U.S. coastal regions (very slow!)
    NGDC/WDCA MGG-Coastal Relief Model (also very slow!)
The Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem (from MD DNR)

Chesapeake Bay: Introduction to an Ecosystem (1995 version)
Chesapeake Bay: Introduction to an Ecosystem (2000 version online)
    PDF file version of Intro to an Ecosystem
Chesapeake Information Management System
        A Capsule History of the Chesapeake Bay (Kent Mountford, EPA Chesapeake Bay Program)
The Chesapeake Bay Region and the Eastern Shore
 Adaptations of estuarine organisms
Coping with estuarine life

ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES ESTUARINE RESEARCH CENTER

Publications


BayTrippers - an Online Field Trip to the Chesapeake Bay

BAY JOURNAL

EPA CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM HOME PAGE
  Publications
        Water quality
        Another site with Bay Program water quality monitoring data

Condition of the mid-Atlantic estuaries - report released in December 1998
Climatology of the Chesapeake Bay mouth

CHESAPEAKE HERITAGE
                          Contexts for Understanding Bay, Coastal Plain and
                                    Piedmont Natural and Cultural Landscapes
                                                      in the Chesapeake Bay Heartland

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative
Chesapeake Bay Remote Sensing Consortium

Articles and general information


Sea-surface temperature imagery, Chesapeake Region (Ocean remote sensing, JHU Applied Physics Lab)
        Sea-surface temperature image - a good one, in case you have difficulty with the preceding link

Chesapeake Bay Atlas animated data sets - changes over time
 

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Education programs

Research programs
Horn Point Environmental Laboratory
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
Appalachian Laboratory
Chesapeake Bay Land Margin Ecosystem Research: Trophic Interactions in Estuarine Systems
Publications
Multiscale Experimental Ecosystem Research Center
           Publications

Midwater Trawl Survey (includes fish, crabs, general species abundance, physical parameters)

VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE
    Syllabus for MS 526 - Principles of Biological Oceanography
    Course homepage for MS 502 - Coastal and Estuarine Processes
Benthic ecology
Ecosystem modeling
Evolutionary ecology
Microbial ecology
Submerged aquatic vegetation
Fisheries research projects
Molluscan ecology
SMITHSONIAN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER
        Publications
        Searchable publications list
UM BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE
    CENTER OF MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY


CHESAPEAKE BAY OBSERVING SYSTEM - data from moored buoys around the bay

CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION

CHESAPEAKE BAY INFORMATION NETWORK

CHESAPEAKE RESEARCH CONSORTIUM

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
STAC Publications (list of research summaries - worth a look)
        Chesapeake Bay Researchers Directory
        Chesapeake Futures
Spring Tides Newsletter
CHESAPEAKE BAY NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE IN VIRGINIA - Species watch

NOAA CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM OFFICE

News clips

U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE CHESAPEAKE BAY FIELD OFFICE

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY activities in the Bay region

Monthly water conditions in the Chesapeake Bay region
Geology of the mid-Atlantic urban corridor
The Chesapeake Bay: geologic product of rising sea level
Chesapeake Bay Bolide: Modern Consequences of an Ancient Cataclysm (USGS/Woods Hole)
Chesapeake Bay: Measuring Pollution Reduction
Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Trends and Response (USGS)
 

Coasts in crisis
Nutrients in the nation's waters - too much of a good thing?
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Temporal Changes in Agricultural Land Use Patuxent River Watershed, Maryland

    PATUXENT WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTER
        Publications

    USGS Press Releases relevant to Chesapeake Bay

MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Maryland Geology - description of physiographic provinces
Calvert Cliffs
Chesapeake Bay Sediment Distribution Map

Coastal and Estuarine Geology project web pages
Shoreline Changes Project
Geology of the Sideling Hill road cut
 

MARYLAND SEA GRANT - CHESAPEAKE BAY

Life in the Bay - pages on assorted groups of organisms
Ecosystem health
Environmental studies research program
List of Research Projects - 1994 to present
Maryland Marine Notes
Maryland Marine Notes: Jan-Feb 96 Spotlight - Bay's Complex Circulatory System
Maryland Sea Grant Research: Toxics Research Program
Electronic publications
Biofilms and biodiversity
 

Sea Grant Guide to Coastal Science Experts
Sea Grant news releases
 
VIRGINIA SEA GRANT
    What is Virginia Sea Grant?

       Virtual marine education center

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

The Chesapeake Bay Trust


MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES - Chesapeake Bay information
    Current water quality conditions
        Tributary strategies
  Bay grass restoration
  Nonpoint source management program
   Atmospheric deposition in Maryland
       Maryland Biological Stream Survey
Invasions by exotic species
Maryland Sea Grant page on exotic species

Invasions research in Chesapeake Bay
Publications and reports on marine invasions in Chesapeake Bay
Exotics in Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Information Management System
(check here for information on monitoring - for phyto/zooplankton, go to bottom of page)

Other references on geology of the region

 History of Appalachians/Geology of eastern New York
   Iapetus ocean (~660 million years ago)
   Formation of volcanic island arc (~ 550 million years ago)
   Taconic orogeny (~450 million years ago)
   Acadian orogeny (~410 to 380 million years ago)
   Alleghanian orogeny (~310 to 250 million years ago)
   Pangaea
   The rifting episode (~220 to 180 million years ago)
   The modern setting
                Ice ages and glaciation (note that the ice ages did NOT begin 18 thousand years ago, however!)

Central Applachian Geoscience Transect Table of Contents
 

Physical and chemical properties of estuarine and ocean waters

Chemistry of Seawater
Properties of seawater (another site)
Physical properties of water and composition of seawater (Ivar Duedall, Florida Tech)
      Conservative and nonconservative species
  Dissolved nitrogen and dissolved oxygen
  Carbon dioxide in the ocean
      Oceanlink key topics - gases in seawater
  Density-temperature-salinity relationships
              Thermohaline circulation in the ocean
Acidity and pH
Carbonates and buffering
Tide information
Tidal water and habitat quality monitoring (DNR)

Chesapeake Bay Interpolator Tools, Data and Products

Sources of organic matter in Chesapeake Bay (VIMS study)

Direct and detrital pathways

Chesapeake Bay Virtual Reality for a Less than Model Ecosystem

Chesapeake Bay Virtual Ecosystem
GIF image 860x860 pixels
Chesapeake Bay Present: A Complex and Fragile System


Phytoplankton

Microscope laboratory - phytoplankton
Phytoplankton information from Maryland DNR
VIMS Pfiesteria research
Algae in the Bay
Phytoplankton monitoring data
Characteristics of Phytoplankton - Rutgers
Study of phytoplankton blooms in the Chesapeake Bay using aircraft remote sensing
        Choptank and Patuxent River chlorophyll and temperature data
Diatom Home Page 
Uncommon blooms - the nitrogen factor
Analysis of nutrient limitation
In harm's way? the threat of toxic algae
Sea Grant page on Pfiesteria and harmful algae blooms
Pfiesteria forcing us to rethink handling of nutrients in Bay
About Pfiesteria piscida
EPA Pfiesteria piscidida home page
Pfiesteria and fish health

Ecology of planktonic protists (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center)
        publications
Microcystis update
Large "mahogany" bloom reported in Chesapeake Bay
Prorocentrum minimum Spring 2000 bloom (from DNR)
Recent Chesapeake Bay phytoplankton survey (select date for image)
Primary producers in estuaries


Sea Grant Pfiesteria briefings
           - September 22, 1998
           - October 19, 1998

Zooplankton

Microscope laboratory - zooplankton
Microscope laboratory - microzooplankton
Jellyfish in Chesapeake Bay and nearby waters
Jellyfish - studying summer's unwelcome visitors
DNR facts about zooplankton
Daily vertical migration in zooplankton: why do they do it?
Ciliates
Zooplankton monitoring program
Brief overview of zooplankton monitoring results
Chesapeake Bay Copepod Nauplii Microzooplankton, 1984-present
Total Adult Eurytemora and Acartia Mesozooplankton, 1984 - 1999
Ratio of Copepod Nauplii :Adult Zooplankton, 1984 - 1999


Wetlands and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation

NASA/University of MD Coastal Marsh Project (this page is slow-loading but it does work)
    Coastal Marsh Project (different version, same project)
An Evaluation of the Anomalous Sea Level Rise and Ecosystem Loss in the Chesapeake Bay
Atlantic sea-level rise, lagoonal marsh loss, and wildlife habitat implications
Response of coastal ecosystems to sea-level rise
Relative Sea-level Rise, Marsh Island Dynamics, and Potential Impacts on Atlantic Coast Migratory Bird Species and their Habitats
Ecosystem health and land loss in the Chesapeake Bay

   Variations in Sea Level
                Chesapeake Bay Project: Subsidence (NOAA)
Coastal and Interior Wetland Ecosystems - Research Projects
Chesapeake Bay Wetlands (EPA)
USGS Activities in the Chesapeake Bay Region - Wetlands
Remote sensing and ecological research in wetlands (USGS)

National Wetlands Research Center
Dynamics of the salt marsh
Choptank River Marsh & Sediment Biogegochemistry
 

Wetlands losses in the US - 1780's to 1980's
Chesapeake Bay Grasses
        Bay Grass General Information
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in Chesapeake Bay (Virginia Institute of Marine Science)
Chesapeake Bay SAV Bibliography
Chesapeake Bay SAV Water Quality and Habitat-Based Requirements and Restsoration Targets
Chesapeake Bay Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Water Quality and Habitat-Based Requirements and Restoration Targets: A

     Second Technical Synthesis
        List of references
Bay Grasses - from EPA Chesapeake Bay Program
DNR facts about Bay grasses
USGS Ecological Research on Wetlands and Submersed Aquatic Vegetation
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service page on SAV
Do created wetlands replace the wetlands that are destroyed?
Bay grasses decline 10% in 1998
Bay's grass beds, helped by drought, rebounded in '99
Restoring Bay grasses to the Chesapeake: a long way back
Seagrass-eutrophication interactions: the role of pattern

Waterfowl

Reports from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Division of Migratory Bird Management
Duckdata - Bibliographic database
Return of Bay's waterfowl hinges on restoration of their habitat
Mallards join humans in encroaching on black duck habitat
There's no place like a proper habitat for Bay's waterfowl
Biologists keep their eyes on the sky for Trumpeter Swan's return
Bald eagle recovery in watershed on track
Population goals for 14 Bay waterfowl species met; 7 miss mark
The exotic mute swan in Chesapeake Bay
Diving duck distribution, abundance, and food habits in Chesapeake Bay

Benthos

Benthic sampling program (DNR)
EPA Chesapeake Bay Program - page on benthos
Benthic-pelagic coupling

Oysters

General anatomy of the eastern oyster (from Maryland Sea Grant publication)
Table of contents - Maryland Sea Grant book on the eastern oyster
Maryland Sea Grant general page on oysters
Oyster Anatomy Laboratory
        Filtering Mechanism Laboratory
VIMS Molluscan ecology

VIMS Molluscan ecology ongoing oyster reef research
The New Oyster Wars: Battling Disease in the Lab and Bay
Formidable Foes
Legislating to Fight Disease: the Oyster Disease Research Program
A Question of Survival: Helping Oysters Overcome Disease
Oysters and the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem
Haplosporidia
Maryland Sea Grant Research: Oyster Disease Research Program
Maryland's historic oyster bottom
The Paynter Lab at University of Maryland College Park - research on oysters
Can Bay's oysters make a comeback?
Building a better oyster
Scientists reach consensus on plan to restore oyster populations in Chesapeake Bay
Many Bay oysters prove resistant to diseases during drought
Oyster reefs: key to restoring bay grasses?
Practical solutions for the filter-feeder question
Ecological changes in Chesapeake Bay: are they result of overharvesting the American Oyster?

Blue Crabs

Blue Crabs: The Biology of Abundance
Counting Crabs
The Summer of '96: Maryland Blue Crab Regulations
Scientists, watermen see big decline in crab population
Survey finds crab population fully exploited
Citing low population levels, scientists urge curb on blue crab harvest
Proposed Maryland Blue Crab Regulations for 2001
Managing the Chesapeake Bay blue crab - public information packet

DNR - saving the blue crab
DNR facts about blue crabs (short version)
DNR facts about blue crabs (extended version)
Crabbing - All About Blue Crabs
THE BLUE CRAB HOME PAGE
Blue crab anatomy
The bottom line on blue crabs: setting thresholds for the last great fishery
 

Finfish populations
Fish of the Chesapeake
NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office fisheries reports
Marine and estuarine fisheries news
Species fact sheets
Major fish species from Chesapeake Bay
Maryland DNR Fisheries Service
DNR facts about fish species
DNR Fish Facts (longer format than above)
Midwater Trawl Survey (includes fish, crabs, general species abundance, physical parameters)
Tidal fish community indicators
Atlantic menhaden: introduction and maps of spatial abundance in Chesapeake Bay
Controversy sidelines proposed study of Bay menhaden (February 1995)
Concern growing about health of menhaden stock (Bay Journal, April 1998)
Latest data show decline in menhaden, despite spawning potential (July 1998)
Ecological impact of menhaden
Starvation and malnutrition of adult striped bass in Chesapeake Bay (Bay Journal, Dec. 1997)
Rockfish sores spur speculation of food web out-of-whack (Jan-Feb 1998)
As striped bass rebound, decline of menhaden remains a concern
Outlook for menhaden mixed: fewer adults, more young fish
Virginia juvenile striped bass seine survey
1998 Striped Bass Young-Of-Year Index Shows Healthy Reproduction
They're back - the incredible resurgence of striped bass
VIMS Juvenile Abundance Monitoring Survey
  Juvenile indices from trawl surveys for assorted species
  Juvenile indices from seine surveys
Rockfish spawn setting records in Bay
Wild shad returning to Susquehanna
Shad returning to Bay rivers in record numbers
Bay Journal September 2000 - see articles on shad
Spawning shad boost Bay population
Quotas stir up pretty kettle of fish
Rockfish quota increases in Bay, holds steady off coast
Report suggests poor striped bass health may be linked to lack of menhaden
Rockfish spawning above average in MD, near record in VA
CHESAPEAKE Bay Fisheries: Prospects for Multispecies Management and Sustainability
Spatial and temporal variability in pelagic fish abundance, diversity and recruitment in Chesapeake Bay
Diversity, abundance, and biomass size spectra of pelagic fish in Chesapeake Bay
Scale and pattern in recruitment processes of bay anchovy in Chesapeake Bay
Spawning stock biomass of bay anchovy
Pfiesteria and fish health
Prospects for Multispecies Fisheries Management in Chesapeake Bay: A Workshop. (STAC Publication 98-002) August 1998; Co-Convenors: E.D. Houde, M.J. Fogarty, T.J. Miller.
 

Nutrients and dissolved oxygen

Nitrogen Dynamics in Forested Lands of the Chesapeake Basin

The Role of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Chesapeake Bay Anoxia
Modeling for the evaluation of total Nitrogen loading in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Atmospheric Deposition of Nitrogen and Contaminants to Chesapeake Bay and Its Watershed
Ammonia and the Chesapeake Bay Airshed
 Nutrient biogeochemistry research at Rutgers
Chesapeake's health hinges on oxygen levels
Nutrients - their loss is Bay's gain (report from Bay Journal)
Don't underestimate role of filter feeders in nutrient equation
Practical solutions for the filter feeder question
Bacteria abundance in Bay unprecedented
Bay Journal October 2000 - articles on nutrient reduction
Environmental controls of denitrification in estuarine sediments
Atmospheric loadings to coastal ecosystems
 

  Chesapeake Bay Air Subcommittee
  Reports
  Modeling deposition to the coastal zone at regional scales
Chesapeake Bay change images - 1984, 1989
Nitrogen Deposition to the Chesapeake Bay
(see below for additional reports on nutrient issues from STAC)

Toxic contaminants

Targeting Toxics: A Characterization Report - A Tool for Directing Management and Monitoring Efforts in the Chesapeake Bay's Tidal Rivers. June 1, 1999.
Making the Link Between Chemical Contamination and Living Resources in Chesapeake Bay: A Focused Research Strategy (from Virginia Sea Grant)

Chemical contamination in the Chesapeake Bay - a workshop report

Environmental contaminants research at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
High levels of metals, steroids found in Pocomoke River
Report offers detailed view of toxics in Bay's rivers
Data base of the occurrence and Distribution of Pesticides in Chesapeake Bay

Occurrence and distribution of pesticides in Chesapeake Bay (1994 review article; need to scroll up to the top of the linked page to get the complete reference)
Search Chesapeake Bay program publications on toxics (just type "toxic" under keywords)
Toxics pollution (from EPA Chesapeake Bay Program)
Bay program updates toxics strategy
Mercury from upwind air pollution may pose threat to fish
Study finds auto emissions to be leading source of some Bay toxics
 

Reports in Adobe Acrobat format, from the Science and Technical Advisory Committee:

Impact of Susquehanna Sediments on the Chesapeake Bay (Workshop Proceedings) April 2000. Co-conveners: Richard Weismiller and
Alan Taylor.

Agricultural Phosphorus in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed: Current Status and Future Trends April 1998. Editor: Andrew Sharpley

Nitrogen Dynamics in Forested Watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay.(STAC Publication 97-3). June 17-19, 1997. Co-Convenors: M.S. Castro, K.M Eshleman, R.P. Morgan II, S.W. Seagle, R.H. Gardner, and L.F. Pitelka.

Watershed Response to Changes in Nutrient Loads: The Best Uses of Monitoring and Modeling. (STAC Publication 98-1). May 1997: Co-Convenors: L. Joseph Bachman, Scott Phillips, Thomas Cronin, Don Boesch, Richard Weismiller.

Ascertaining Sources of Nitrogen Entry to the Chesapeake Bay with Emphasis on Atmospheric Inputs STAC Task Group Final Report. October 16, 1996.

Integrated Analysis of Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Data. (STAC Publication 97-002) November 1996.

Prospects for Multispecies Fisheries Management in Chesapeake Bay: A Workshop. (STAC Publication 98-002) August 1998; Co-Convenors: E.D. Houde, M.J. Fogarty, T.J. Miller.

Habitat and Living Resources Monitoring Data Workshop. (CRC No. 153)
September 1995.

Nutrient Subcommittee-sponsored Research on Nonpoint Sources of Nutrients: 1992-1996. (CRC No. 154)

Increasing the Access of Minority Institutions to Chesapeake Bay Restoration Activities. Proceedings of a Workshop 7-8 April 1995. (CRC No. 150c out of print, available on-line only)
Paula Hill, Dr. Richard Jachowski, and Dr. Harriette Phelps eds.

Chesapeake Bay Wetlands Research Recommendations and Program Descriptions, March 1993 (CRC No. 150b)
Paula Hill, Steve Nelson, and Pam Mason Eds.

Atmospheric Loadings to Coastal Areas: Resolving Existing Uncertainties. (CRC No. 148)
Bruce Hicks, Elizabeth Watkins, and Paula Hill Eds. Feb. 1995.

Tomczak lecture notes on Shelf and Coastal Oceanography - Flinders University
Ocean Primary Productivity Study - Rutgers
SeaWIFS Project - Global Ocean Remote Sensing