Ecosystem Service Benefits of a Cleaner Chesapeake Bay

Phillips, Spencer; McGee, Beth

doi:10.1080/08920753.2016.1160205

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In response, federal managers, as well as managers from the five states in the CB watershed, have developed plans to limit nutrient loading into the Bay and restore oyster biomass ( EPA, 2000 ). Human benefit from increases in water quality and oyster biomass include multiple ecosystem services such as habitat improvement, fishery productivity, aesthetics, and the economic value of the Bay, both for residential property values and as a recreation destination ( Phillips and McGee, 2014 ). Targets exist for reducing loading of nitrogen and phosphorus into CB ( EPA, 2010b ), concentrations for chl a ( EPA, 2010a ), and oyster biomass ( EPA, 2000 ).…”

Section: Functional Equivalency Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing estuaries for ecosystem function

Fulford¹,

Russell²,

Hagy³

et al. 2020

Global Ecology and Conservation

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Estuary management is limited by lack of consensus on operational tools for handling multiple conflicting management objectives. One critical step to this goal is a shift from individual problems to a focus on maintaining ecosystem functions that benefit humans. If function is maintained, then the ecosystem is said to be functionally equivalent to its unimpacted state, which is sufficient for management. We propose an adaptation of a functional equivalency (FE) assessment approach from marine fishery management and use a case study demonstration to address how this approach can be integrated into existing ecosystem assessment tools. The functional equivalency framework has three components for implementation: definition of target ecosystem functions, measurable metrics of ecosystem functions, and policy-based thresholds for each metric that indicate when functional equivalency is lost and must be restored. Each case study is an application of available data, models, and management policy to define these ecosystem function components. We intend to foster discussion and future work on integrating the FE approach into existing ecosystem assessment tools. Data requirements are high, as is the necessary integration between science and policy. The results can be a more integrated management approach focused on maintenance of ecosystem functions most beneficial to humans.

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Section: Functional Equivalency Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing estuaries for ecosystem function

Fulford¹,

Russell²,

Hagy³

et al. 2020

Global Ecology and Conservation

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“…The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, fed by a watershed spanning six states and encompassing 166,000 km 2 of diverse terrestrial and marine ecosystems (Phillips, McGee, 2016). Over 3,000 species of bivalves, birds, fish, and other organisms inhabit the watershed, and nearby coastal wetlands provide nurseries, food, and nesting sites (Chesapeake Bay Foundation, n.d.).…”

Section: Background Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilizing Landsat and Sentinel-2 to Remotely Monitor and Evaluate the Performance of Winter Cover Crops Throughout Maryland

Peredo

Wayman

Whong

et al. 2020

Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

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Abstract. Winter cover crops have been shown to limit erosion and nutrient runoff from agricultural land. To promote their usage, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) subsidizes farmers who plant cover crops. Conventional verification of cover crop planting and analysis of subsequent crop performance requires on-the-ground fieldwork, which is costly and labor intensive. In partnership with the MDA, NASA's DEVELOP program utilized imagery from Landsat 5, Landsat 8, and the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 to create a decision support tool for satellite-based monitoring of cover crop performance throughout Maryland. Our teams created CCROP, an interactive graphical user interface, in Google Earth Engine which analyzes satellite imagery to calculate the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of fields across the state. Linear regression models were applied to convert NDVI to estimates of crop biomass and percent green ground cover, with measure of fit (R2) values ranging from 0.4 to 0.7. These crop metrics were implemented into an interactive filtering tool within CCROP which allows users to examine cover crop performance based on a variety of growing parameters. CCROP also includes a time series analysis routine for examining the progression of NDVI throughout the spring to help determine farmer-induced termination dates of cover crops. With this decision support tool, the MDA can analyze the effectiveness of cover crops throughout the state with reduced need to manually spot-check enrolled production fields, and can identify variables influencing overall cover crop performance to optimize implementation of their winter cover crop program via adaptive management approaches.

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“…The Chesapeake Bay watershed drainage covers 167,000 km 2 within six states of the country, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, and the Federal District of Columbia, the nation's capital (Boesch et al, 2001;Testa et al, 2017;McLaughlin et al, 2022). Currently, its natural resources support thousands of animal and plant species and a human population of approximately 18 million (Morgan and Owens, 2001;Phillips and McGee, 2016;Ator et al, 2020;Delia et al, 2021). However, since the mid-1900s, there has been a substantial loss of natural resource quality and productivity (Phillips and McGee, 2016;Hood et al, 2021;CBP-Who, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed socio-ecological system through the Circles of Coastal Sustainability framework

Leyva Ollivier,

Newton,

Kelsey

2024

Front. Water

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The concern with preserving natural resources for the future has been capturing global attention due to the state of decline of productive ecosystems. Chesapeake Bay, a large estuary located on the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States of America is such a productive ecosystem supporting thousands of animal and plants species, and the surrounding human population. Despite the concept of sustainable development, there has been continued pressure on the natural resources and the ecosystem services of the Bay. Institutional restoration and management efforts have been extensive, generating organizations, agreements, regulations and projects, among others. This research assesses Chesapeake Bay’s sustainability in four domains: environment, social, economy, and governance, using the Circles of Coastal Sustainability methodology. Each of the four domains has five categories, and each category is evaluated by the authors’ expert judgment using indicators related to the socio-ecological system and the definition of sustainable development. The article proposes a global sustainability score developed by a literature review of sustainability evaluated through the expert judgment of the authors. The results from the framework gave a “Satisfactory” score to the overall system; the environment and economic domains obtained the “Satisfactory” score, whilst the government and social domains obtained “Good” and “Poor” scores, respectively. The categories ranged between “Excellent” and “Poor” scores. The “Excellent” score was obtained by organization. The “Poor” score was obtained by five categories across the domains including social benefits, demographic, identity, security, and economic wellbeing. The assessment showed that the system has degradation problems, but the results have provided a general foundation for management bridges and barriers for sustainable development, with the barriers used to discuss new bridges towards holistic management proposals. The framework is a tool in progress to communicate to various actors the current sustainability development with the available information, provide a holistic system view, and find knowledge gaps in the research of a system. Similarly, the framework and assessment can be complemented, adapted, refined, and improved with each application as part of an adaptive management iterative cycle.

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Ecosystem Service Benefits of a Cleaner Chesapeake Bay

Cited by 16 publications

References 24 publications

Managing estuaries for ecosystem function

Managing estuaries for ecosystem function

Utilizing Landsat and Sentinel-2 to Remotely Monitor and Evaluate the Performance of Winter Cover Crops Throughout Maryland

Assessment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed socio-ecological system through the Circles of Coastal Sustainability framework

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