Publications
Access hundreds of Bay Program publications, from scientific reports to factsheets to memorandums.
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Linkages between microplastics and Chesapeake Bay Program Agreement Goals
Ecological risk of microplastics to wildlife is an ongoing area of research and the Plastic Pollution Action Team (PPAT) recommends that future research should focus on trophic linkages, mortality rates, and other biological effects of microplastics on Chesapeake Bay wildlife. Furthermore, microplastic pollution has the potential to adversely affect efforts at meeting goals and outcomes outlined in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Agreement. Here we present potential impacts, some speculative and without data to support it, to outcomes for the Agreement.
View detailsNutrient limitation of phytoplankton in three tributaries of Chesapeake Bay: Detecting responses following nutrient reductions
Published on November 1, 2022Zhang, Q., Fisher, T.R., Buchanan, C., Gustafson, A.B., Karrh, R.R., Murphy, R.R., Testa, J.M., Tian, R., Tango, P.J. Nutrient limitation of phytoplankton in three tributaries of Chesapeake Bay: Detecting responses following nutrient reductions. Water Research, Volume 226, 2022, 119099, ISSN 0043-1354, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watr....
View detailsSimulation of high-frequency dissolved oxygen dynamics in a shallow estuary, the Corsica River, Chesapeake Bay
Published on December 16, 2022Tian R, Cai X, Testa JM, Brady DC, Cerco CF and Linker LC (2022) Simulation of high-frequency dissolved oxygen dynamics in a shallow estuary, the Corsica River, Chesapeake Bay. Front. Mar. Sci. 9:1058839. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2022.1058839
View detailsUpdated (2022) Ecological Risk Assessment
Published on November 30, 20222015-2025 Stream Health Management Strategy - v.3
2015-2025 Stream Health Management Strategy - v.3
View details2022-2023 - Stream Health Logic & Action Plan
Published on July 30, 2021Progress toward the Restoration of Chesapeake Bay in Time and Space
Three decades of monitoring in Chesapeake Bay and tributary rivers has allowed for an examination of the spatial and temporal patterns of water quality change in response to watershed restoration activities. This review of past monitoring data has revealed clear signs of successful water quality remediation in some Chesapeake regions. Upgrades to waste water treatment plants (WWTP) have led to measurable reductions in nutrient concentrations and algal biomass, with associated recoveries of submerged aquatic vegetation and reductions in sediment and nutrient levels. Point-source related improvements were observed in waters local to the WWTP facility, which are generally in oligohaline and tidal freshwater regions of tributaries. Reductions in atmospheric deposition of nitrogen within the Bay watershed has resulted inmarked reductions in nitrogen inputs from the Susquehanna and Potomac Rivers, and these reductions in watershed input have resulted in lower concentrations within the estuary. Coastal plain watersheds with high agricultural intensity continue to yield high amounts of nutrients, and water quality has not improved in the receiving waters of many of these tributaries. Signs of eutrophication remediation are clearest where nutrient load reductions are large and local. In more seaward estuarine reaches, recovery from eutrophication appears to be season- and regionspecific, where the late growing season period in high-salinity waters, which is most vulnerable to nutrient limitation and oxygen replenishment, appear to have recovered first. These findings suggest a refinement of our existing conceptual models of the eutrophication process in Chesapeake Bay, where time of year and proximity to nutrient sources are important to understanding spatial and temporal variation in recovery.
View detailsProgress toward the Restoration of Chesapeake Bay in Time and Space - Executive Summary
Three decades of monitoring in Chesapeake Bay and tributary rivers has allowed for an examination of the spatial and temporal patterns of water quality change in response to watershed restoration activities. This review of past monitoring data has revealed clear signs of successful water quality remediation in some Chesapeake regions. Upgrades to waste water treatment plants (WWTP) have led to measurable reductions in nutrient concentrations and algal biomass, with associated recoveries of submerged aquatic vegetation and reductions in sediment and nutrient levels. Point-source related improvements were observed in waters local to the WWTP facility, which are generally in oligohaline and tidal freshwater regions of tributaries. Reductions in atmospheric deposition of nitrogen within the Bay watershed has resulted inmarked reductions in nitrogen inputs from the Susquehanna and Potomac Rivers, and these reductions in watershed input have resulted in lower concentrations within the estuary. Coastal plain watersheds with high agricultural intensity continue to yield high amounts of nutrients, and water quality has not improved in the receiving waters of many of these tributaries. Signs of eutrophication remediation are clearest where nutrient load reductions are large and local. In more seaward estuarine reaches, recovery from eutrophication appears to be season- and regionspecific, where the late growing season period in high-salinity waters, which is most vulnerable to nutrient limitation and oxygen replenishment, appear to have recovered first. These findings suggest a refinement of our existing conceptual models of the eutrophication process in Chesapeake Bay, where time of year and proximity to nutrient sources are important to understanding spatial and temporal variation in recovery.
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