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ECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF THE U.S. MID-ATLANTIC ESTUARIES: THE MID-ATLANTIC INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT (MAIA)
Citation:
Kiddon, J A., J F. Paul, H Buffum, C J. Strobel, S S. Hale, D J. Cobb, AND B S. Brown. ECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF THE U.S. MID-ATLANTIC ESTUARIES: THE MID-ATLANTIC INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT (MAIA). MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 46(10):1224-1244, (2003).
Description:
The Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA-Estuaries) evaluated ecological conditions in US Mid-Atlantic estuaries during the summers of 1997 and 1998. Over 800 probability-based stations were monitored in four main estuarine systems?Chesapeake Bay, the Delaware Estuary, Maryland and Virginian coastal bays, and the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System. Twelve smaller estuaries within the four main systems were also assessed to establish variance at the local scale. A subset of the MAIA-Estuaries data is used here to estimate the extent of eutrophication, sediment contamination, and benthic degradation in mid-Atlantic estuaries. An Environmental Report Card and Index of Environmental Integrity summarize conditions in individual estuaries, the four estuarine systems, and the entire MAIA region. Roughly 20-50% of the region showed signs of eutrophication (high nutrients, excessive production of organic matter, poor water clarity, or depleted dissolved oxygen), 30% had contaminated sediments, and 37% had degraded benthic communities. Compared with the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP)-Virginian Province study in 1990-1993, larger fractions of Chesapeake Bay (17%) and Delaware River (32%) had increased metals or organics in sediments.