Publications
The USGS publishes peer-reviewed reports and journal articles which are used by Chesapeake Bay Program resource managers and policy makers to make science-based decisions for ecosystem conservation and restoration. Use the Search box below to find publications on selected topics.
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Filter Total Items: 961
Predator removal enhances waterbird restoration in Chesapeake Bay (Maryland) Predator removal enhances waterbird restoration in Chesapeake Bay (Maryland)
This report represents an update to an earlier report(Erwin et al. 2007a) on wildlife restoration on the largest dredge material island project in the United States underway in Talbot County, Maryland (Figure 1) in the mid–Chesapeake Bay region, referred to as the Paul Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project at Poplar Island (www.nab.usace.army.mil/projects/Maryland/PoplarIsland/documents...
Authors
R. Michael Erwin, Peter C. McGowan, Jan Reese
Sources, fate, and transport of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: An empirical model Sources, fate, and transport of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: An empirical model
Spatially Referenced Regression on Watershed Attributes (SPARROW) was used to provide empirical estimates of the sources, fate, and transport of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and the mean annual TN and TP flux to the bay and in each of 80,579 nontidal tributary stream reaches. Restoration efforts in recent decades have been insufficient to...
Authors
Scott W. Ator, John W. Brakebill, Joel D. Blomquist
Simulated changes in salinity in the York and Chickahominy Rivers from projected sea-level rise in Chesapeake Bay Simulated changes in salinity in the York and Chickahominy Rivers from projected sea-level rise in Chesapeake Bay
As a result of climate change and variability, sea level is rising throughout the world, but the rate along the east coast of the United States is higher than the global mean rate. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Newport News, Virginia, conducted a study to evaluate the effects of possible future sea-level rise on the salinity front in two tributaries to...
Authors
Karen C. Rice, Mark Bennett, Jian Shen
Anthropocene streams and base-level controls from historic dams in the unglaciated mid-Atlantic region, USA Anthropocene streams and base-level controls from historic dams in the unglaciated mid-Atlantic region, USA
Recently, widespread valley-bottom damming for water power was identified as a primary control on valley sedimentation in the mid-Atlantic US during the late seventeenth to early twentieth century. The timing of damming coincided with that of accelerated upland erosion during post-European settlement land-use change. In this paper, we examine the impact of local drops in base level on...
Authors
Dorothy Merritts, Robert Walter, Michael Rahnis, Jeff Hartranft, Scott Cox, Allen Gellis, Noel Potter, William Hilgartner, Michael J. Langland, Lauren Manion, Caitlin Lippincott, Sauleh Siddiqui, Zain Rehman, Chris Scheid, Laura Kratz, Andrea Shilling, Matthew Jenschke, Katherine Datin, Elizabeth Cranmer, Austin Reed, Derek Matuszewski, Mark Voli, Erik Ohlson, Ali Neugebauer, Aakash Ahamed, Conor Neal, Allison Winter, Steven Becker
Contributions of Phosphorus from Groundwater to Streams in the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge Physiographic Provinces, Eastern United States Contributions of Phosphorus from Groundwater to Streams in the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge Physiographic Provinces, Eastern United States
Phosphorus from natural and human sources is likely to be discharged from groundwater to streams in certain geochemical environments. Water-quality data collected from 1991 through 2007 in paired networks of groundwater and streams in different hydrogeologic and land-use settings of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge Physiographic Provinces in the eastern United States were...
Authors
Judith M. Denver, Charles A. Cravotta, Scott W. Ator, Bruce D. Lindsey
Tumor prevalence and biomarkers of genotoxicity in brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) in Chesapeake Bay tributaries Tumor prevalence and biomarkers of genotoxicity in brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) in Chesapeake Bay tributaries
We surveyed four Chesapeake Bay tributaries for skin and liver tumors in brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus). We focused on the South River, where the highest skin tumor prevalence (53%) in the Bay watershed had been reported. The objectives were to 1) compare tumor prevalence with nearby rivers (Severn and Rhode) and a more remote river (Choptank); 2) investigate associations between...
Authors
Alfred E. Pinkney, John C. Harshbarger, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Kathryn Jenko, Lennart Balk, Halldora Skarphedinsdottir, Birgitta Liewenborg, Michael A. Rutter
Development of soil properties and nitrogen cycling in created wetlands Development of soil properties and nitrogen cycling in created wetlands
Mitigation wetlands are expected to compensate for the loss of structure and function of natural wetlands within 5–10 years of creation; however, the age-based trajectory of development in wetlands is unclear. This study investigates the development of coupled structural (soil properties) and functional (nitrogen cycling) attributes of created non-tidal freshwater wetlands of varying...
Authors
K.L. Wolf, C. Ahn, G.B. Noe
Measurement of net nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization in wetland soils using a modification of the resin-core technique Measurement of net nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization in wetland soils using a modification of the resin-core technique
A modification of the resin-core method was developed and tested for measuring in situ soil N and P net mineralization rates in wetland soils where temporal variation in bidirectional vertical water movement and saturation can complicate measurement. The modified design includes three mixed-bed ion-exchange resin bags located above and three resin bags located below soil incubating...
Authors
Gregory B. Noe
Microtopography enhances nitrogen cycling and removal in created mitigation wetlands Microtopography enhances nitrogen cycling and removal in created mitigation wetlands
Natural wetlands often have a heterogeneous soil surface topography, or microtopography (MT), that creates microsites of variable hydrology, vegetation, and soil biogeochemistry. Created mitigation wetlands are designed to mimic natural wetlands in structure and function, and recent mitigation projects have incorporated MT as one way to attain this goal. Microtopography may influence...
Authors
K.L. Wolf, C. Ahn, G.B. Noe
Islands at bay: Rising seas, eroding islands, and waterbird habitat loss in Chesapeake Bay (USA) Islands at bay: Rising seas, eroding islands, and waterbird habitat loss in Chesapeake Bay (USA)
Like many resources in the Chesapeake Bay region of the U.S., many waterbird nesting populations have suffered over the past three to four decades. In this study, historic information for the entire Bay and recent results from the Tangier Sound region were evaluated to illustrate patterns of island erosion and habitat loss for 19 breeding species of waterbirds. Aerial imagery and field...
Authors
R. Michael Erwin, D.F. Brinker, B.D. Watts, G.R. Costanzo, D.D. Morton
Monoclinic tridymite in clast-rich impact melt rock from the Chesapeake Bay impact structure Monoclinic tridymite in clast-rich impact melt rock from the Chesapeake Bay impact structure
X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy confirm a rare terrestrial occurrence of monoclinic tridymite in clast-rich impact melt rock from the Eyreville B drill core in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure. The monoclinic tridymite occurs with quartz paramorphs after tridymite and K-feldspar in a microcrystalline groundmass of devitrified glass and Fe-rich smectite. Electron-microprobe...
Authors
John C. Jackson, J. Wright Horton, I-Ming Chou, Harvey E. Belkin
Effects of groundwater-flow paths on nitrate concentrations across two riparian forest corridors Effects of groundwater-flow paths on nitrate concentrations across two riparian forest corridors
Groundwater levels, apparent age, and chemistry from field sites and groundwater-flow modeling of hypothetical aquifers collectively indicate that groundwater-flow paths contribute to differences in nitrate concentrations across riparian corridors. At sites in Virginia (one coastal and one Piedmont), lowland forested wetlands separate upland fields from nearby surface waters (an estuary...
Authors
Gary K. Speiran