National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) research highlights in the Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in theUnited States. It is a unique and valuable national treasurebecause of its ecological, recreational, economicand cultural benefits. The problems facing the Bay arewell known and extensively documented, and are largelyrelated to human uses of the watershed and resourceswithin the Bay. Over the past several decades as theorigins of the Chesapeake’s problems became clear, citizensgroups and Federal, State, and local governmentshave entered into agreements and worked together torestore the Bay’s productivity and ecological health.In May 2010, President Barack Obama signed ExecutiveOrder number 13508 that tasked a team of Federalagencies to develop a way forward in the protectionand restoration of the Chesapeake watershed. Successof both State and Federal efforts will depend on havingrelevant, sound information regarding the ecology andfunction of the system as the basis of management anddecision making. In response to the executive order, theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’sNational Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)has compiled an overview of its research in ChesapeakeBay watershed.NCCOS has a long history of Chesapeake Bay research,investigating the causes and consequences of changesthroughout the watershed’s ecosystems. This documentpresents a cross section of research results that have advanced the understanding of the structure and functionof the Chesapeake and enabled the accurate and timelyprediction of events with the potential to impact bothhuman communities and ecosystems. There are three main focus areas: changes in land use patterns in the watershed and the related impacts on contaminant and pathogen distribution and concentrations; nutrient inputs and algal bloom events; and habitat use and life history patterns of species in the watershed.Land use changes in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have dramatically changed how the system functions. Acomparison of several subsystems within the Bay drainageshas shown that water quality is directly related to land use and how the land use affects ecosystem health of the rivers and streams that enter the Chesapeake Bay. Across the Chesapeake as a whole, the rivers that drain developed areas, such as the Potomac and James rivers, tend to have much more highly contaminated sediments than does the mainstem of the Bay itself. In addition to what might be considered traditional contaminants, such as hydrocarbons, new contaminants are appearing in measurable amounts. At fourteen sites studied in the Bay, thirteen different pharmaceuticals were detected. The impact of pharmaceuticals on organisms and the people who eat them is still unknown. The effects of water borne infections on people and marine life are known, however, and the exposure to certain bacteria is a significant health risk. A model is now available that predicts the likelihood of occurrence of a strain of bacteria known as Vibrio vulnificus throughout Bay waters.