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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND-BASED NITROGEN LOADING AND EELGRASS EXTENT FOR EMBAYMENTS IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND: INITIAL MODEL CONSTRUCTION
Citation:
LATIMER, J. S., S. A. REGO, G. CICCHETTI, C. G. PESCH, E. H. DETTMANN, R. A. MCKINNEY, AND M. A. CHARPENTIER. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND-BASED NITROGEN LOADING AND EELGRASS EXTENT FOR EMBAYMENTS IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND: INITIAL MODEL CONSTRUCTION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-07/021 (NTIS PB2007-107189), 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
To help develop nutrient load-ecological response models for setting protective loading limits for nitrogen
Description:
This report outlines research results of the US EPA Atlantic Ecology Division in fulfilling the National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory's Aquatic Stressors Nutrient Program's charge to develop nutrient load-ecological response models useful in setting loading limits protective of estuarine designated uses. The results reveal that eelgrass extent is significantly related (r2 = 0.82, p<0.0001) to land-based nitrogen loading when estuarine volume and flushing time are considered. Once this preliminary model is revised and validated, it can be used by local, state and tribal resource managers as part of the weight of evidence required to set nitrogen loading thresholds protective of eelgrass habitat for the class of estuaries defined as southern New England shallow embayments.