Grantee Research Project Results
2000 Progress Report: The Choptank River: A Mid-Chesapeake Bay Index Site for Evaluating Ecosystems Responses to Nutrient Management
EPA Grant Number: R826941Title: The Choptank River: A Mid-Chesapeake Bay Index Site for Evaluating Ecosystems Responses to Nutrient Management
Investigators: Malone, Thomas C. , Cornwell, Jeffrey C. , Boicourt, William C. , Stevenson, J. Court , Harding Jr., Lawrence W.
Institution: University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science , Horn Point Laboratory
Current Institution: Horn Point Laboratory
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: September 15, 1998 through September 14, 2001 (Extended to September 14, 2002)
Project Period Covered by this Report: September 15, 1999 through September 14, 2000
Project Amount: $596,097
RFA: Ecological Effects of Environmental Stressors Using Coastal Intensive Sites (1998) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Aquatic Ecosystems , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Environmental Statistics
Objective:
The primary goal of the project is to develop and examine methods for detecting responses to anthropogenic stresses in the Choptank River Index Site and to establish the Site as a sentinel of change for a broader domain of coastal plain ecosystems. Of particular interest are the impacts of meteorological fluctuations and nutrient management in the Choptank drainage basin on water quality and living resources in the estuary. The intent is to resolve responses caused by human activities from the variability imposed by nature, to develop key indices of ecosystem change, and to predict trends and their consequences.
Progress Summary:
The fortuitous arrival of heavy rains over the Choptank River CISNet Index Site in spring 2000, provided a substantial boost to our efforts toward the goal of developing methods for detecting responses to anthropogenic stresses. In marked contrast to the drought year of 1999, these rains and the associated runoff reduced salinity and produced intense and widespread algal blooms. The initial intent of this Index Site program was to separate responses caused by human activities from the variability imposed by nature, to develop key indices of ecosystem change, and to predict trends and their consequences. Of particular interest have been the impacts of meteorological fluctuations and nutrient management in the Choptank drainage basin on water quality and living resources in the estuary. For this 3-year program, our strategy has been to use modern, high-intensity, high-resolution sampling and analytical tools in conjunction with the historical record to achieve this separation. However, without a range of conditions within the intensive sampling interval to facilitate such an effort, success might be in doubt. Fortunately, Mother Nature cooperated. Additional fortunate occurrences of 2000 were the funding of related, cooperative programs and the publication of relevant research results from the Choptank River watershed.
Highlights of the Choptank River Index Site for 2000 included both observational and analytical efforts. Monthly axial shipboard surveys were augmented by occasional high-resolution undulating towed vehicle transits and lateral sampling. Monthly aircraft overflights coincident with shipboard surveys were successfully completed. Two autonomous sampling stations were established, and the primary monitoring buoy telemetry system was set up to report information to the Web in real time. In addition, a Choptank River Index Site Web Site was established. The full U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) historical data set was assembled and processed for analysis. Three masters theses, partially supported by EPA STAR fellowships, were completed. Finally, a steady-state transport model was completed and a manuscript prepared. This model not only showed that the relevant transport processes could be captured by relatively simple physics, especially in the upper estuary, but also indicated that a simple time-dependent model would likely be successful over the entire estuary. In October, W. Boicourt and J.C. Stevenson attended the CISNet Annual Meeting at the USEPA Narragansett Laboratory. They reported on activities and progress and conferred with colleagues from other CISNet sites.
Future Activities:
In the next year, we intend to carry out both an intensive field effort and a program of analysis and modeling. In addition to continuing the high-resolution time series shipboard surveys as long as practical, we will conduct a 2-month intensive observational program in late spring. Although this program will address some questions not posed at the outset of the Choptank Index Site research, the primary reason for the intensity is that we intend to include special studies that were planned for 2000 but not carried out. For 2001, the field effort is designed to address transport processes and lateral property structure within the estuary, exchange of the Choptank River with the mainstem bay, and nutrient exchanges between the land, marshes, and open estuary. Although we will continue to analyze the historical record in the context of the CISNet data set, we also intend to construct a simple time-dependent transport model of the Choptank River Index Site. This model will be based on a successful advection-diffusion model previously applied to the Upper Chesapeake Bay.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 22 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
atmosphere, watersheds, land, sediments, marine, estuary, ecological effects, particulates, discharge, ecosystem, indicators, restoration, scaling, integrated assessment, decision making, environmental chemistry, marine science, biology, physics, ecology, hydrology, modeling, monitoring, analytical, surveys, measurement methods, remote sensing, Chesapeake Bay., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Water, Waste, Geographic Area, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Water & Watershed, Nutrients, Ecology, Hydrology, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Ecosystem Protection, Contaminated Sediments, Physics, State, Chemistry, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Monitoring/Modeling, Air Deposition, Watersheds, Ecological Indicators, nutrient transport, aquatic ecosystem, agriculturally impacted watershed, anthropogenic stress, basin hydrology, coastal ecosystem, hydrological stability, nutrient supply, anthropogenic stresses, ecological exposure, agricultural runoff, CISNet, watershed management, meteorology, nutrient flux, contaminated sediment, coastal zone, remote sensing data, coastal plain ecosystems, CISNet Program, Choptank River, predictive model, soil, shipboard sampling, Maryland (MD), aquatic ecosystems, water quality, stress responses, nutrient transport model, discharge, nitrogen, nutrient management, atmospheric deposition, ecological responseRelevant Websites:
http://www.cisnet-choptank.org Exit
http://www.cbos.org Exit
http://noaa.chesapeakebay.net Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.