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: 946
Water quality impacts of climate change, land use, and population growth in the Chesapeake Bay watershed Water quality impacts of climate change, land use, and population growth in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
The 2010 Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load was established for the water quality and ecological restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. In 2017, the latest science, data, and modeling tools were used to develop revised Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs). In this article, we examine the vulnerability of the Chesapeake Bay watershed to the combined pressures of climate change and...
Authors
Gopal Bhatt, Lewis C. Linker, Gary W. Shenk, Isabella Bertani, Richard Tian, Jessica Rigelman, Kyle E. Hinson, Peter Claggett
White perch health relative to urbanization and habitat degradation in Chesapeake Bay tributaries. II. Hepatic and splenic macrophage aggregates White perch health relative to urbanization and habitat degradation in Chesapeake Bay tributaries. II. Hepatic and splenic macrophage aggregates
Macrophage aggregate (MA) abundance in fish is a useful general biomarker of contaminant exposures and environmental stress. Hepatic and splenic MAs were evaluated in semi-anadromous white perch Morone americana (Gmelin, 1789) from the urbanized Severn River (S) and the more rural Choptank River (C), Chesapeake Bay. Fish were collected from different sites in the annual migratory circuit...
Authors
Vicki S. Blazer, Mark A Matsche, Erin L. Pulster
White perch health relative to urbanization and habitat degradation in Chesapeake Bay tributaries. I. Biliary neoplasms and hepatic lesions White perch health relative to urbanization and habitat degradation in Chesapeake Bay tributaries. I. Biliary neoplasms and hepatic lesions
White perch Morone americana (Gmelin, 1789) from the Chesapeake Bay (USA) watershed have a high incidence of liver disease, including neoplasms of bile duct origin. Fish collected seasonally from spring 2019 to winter 2020 from the urban Severn River and the more rural Choptank River were evaluated for hepatic lesions. Biliary hyperplasia (64.1%), neoplasms (cholangioma and...
Authors
Vicki S. Blazer, Mark A Matsche, Erin L. Pulster
Progress in reducing nutrient and sediment loads to Chesapeake Bay: Three decades of monitoring data and implications for restoring complex ecosystems Progress in reducing nutrient and sediment loads to Chesapeake Bay: Three decades of monitoring data and implications for restoring complex ecosystems
For over three decades, Chesapeake Bay (USA) has been the focal point of a coordinated restoration strategy implemented through a partnership of governmental and nongovernmental entities, which has been a classical model for coastal restoration worldwide. This synthesis aims to provide resource managers and estuarine scientists with a clearer perspective of the magnitude of changes in...
Authors
Qian Zhang, Joel D. Blomquist, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Jennifer L. Keisman, Douglas L. Moyer, Michael J. Langland
Impacts and uncertainties of climate-induced changes in watershed inputs on estuarine hypoxia Impacts and uncertainties of climate-induced changes in watershed inputs on estuarine hypoxia
Multiple climate-driven stressors, including warming and increased nutrient delivery, are exacerbating hypoxia in coastal marine environments. Within coastal watersheds, environmental managers are particularly interested in climate impacts on terrestrial processes, which may undermine the efficacy of management actions designed to reduce eutrophication and consequent low-oxygen...
Authors
Kyle E. Hinson, Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs, Raymond G. Najjar, Maria Herrmann, Zihao Bian, Gopal Bhatt, Pierre St-Laurent, Hanqin Tian, Gary W. Shenk
Knowledge gaps, uncertainties, and opportunities regarding the response of the Chesapeake Bay estuary to restoration efforts Knowledge gaps, uncertainties, and opportunities regarding the response of the Chesapeake Bay estuary to restoration efforts
As part of the Chesapeake Bay Program's (CBP's) Science and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) initiative "Achieving Water Quality Goals in the Chesapeake Bay: An Evaluation of System Response", an Estuary Working Group was formed to generate an assessment of scientific knowledge gaps, uncertainties, and recent ecosystem changes to consider in light of CBP's impending goal of full...
Authors
Jeremy M. Testa, William C. Dennison, William P. Ball, Kathleen Boomer, Deirdre M Gibson, Lewis C. Linker, Michael C. Runge, Lawrence Sanford
Evaluation of management efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment contributions to the Chesapeake Bay estuary Evaluation of management efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment contributions to the Chesapeake Bay estuary
No abstract available.
Authors
Z. Easton, K. Stephenson, B. Benham, J.K. Bohlke, A. Buda, A. Collick, L. Fowler, E. Gilinsky, C. Hershner, Andrew Miller, Gregory E. Noe, L. Palm-Forster, T. Thompson
Achieving water quality goals in the Chesapeake Bay: A comprehensive evaluation of system response Achieving water quality goals in the Chesapeake Bay: A comprehensive evaluation of system response
A Comprehensive Evaluation of System Response Achieving Water Quality Goals in the Chesapeake Bay: A Comprehensive Evaluation of System Response (CESR) includes an evaluation of why progress toward meeting the TMDL and water quality standards has been slower than expected and offers options for how progress can be accelerated. This report is a summation of a three year investigation into...
Assembling the right pieces: Developing an interdisciplinary team to study disease, decline, and recovery of a world-class Smallmouth Bass fishery Assembling the right pieces: Developing an interdisciplinary team to study disease, decline, and recovery of a world-class Smallmouth Bass fishery
Managing and understanding fisheries dynamics are becoming more complex as new and seemingly more complicated environmental factors are identified. Often management requires resources beyond that of any one entity and calls for collaboration among partners with differing priorities and backgrounds to account for the complexity of factors influencing fisheries. We present a collaborative...
Authors
Megan K. Schall, Geoffrey Smith, Vicki S. Blazer, Heather L. Walsh, Timothy Wertz, Dustin R. Shull, Tyler Wagner
Estimated reduction of nitrogen in streams of the Chesapeake Bay in areas with agricultural conservation practices Estimated reduction of nitrogen in streams of the Chesapeake Bay in areas with agricultural conservation practices
Spatial data provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Resource Conservation Service representing implementation at the field-level for a selection of agricultural conservation practices were incorporated within a spatially referenced regression model to estimate their effects on nitrogen loads in streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Conservation practices classified as...
Authors
Andrew J. Sekellick, Scott Ator, Olivia Devereux, Jennifer L. Keisman
A multi-level assessment of biological effects associated with mercury concentrations in smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu A multi-level assessment of biological effects associated with mercury concentrations in smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu
Total mercury (THg) was measured in muscle (fillet) and liver tissue of adult smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu collected at multiple sites in the Potomac and Susquehanna River drainages within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Smallmouth bass in these drainages have experienced episodic mortality events, a high prevalence of skin lesions and reproductive endocrine disruption (intersex or
Authors
Vicki S. Blazer, Heather L. Walsh, Adam Sperry, Brenna Raines, James Willacker, Collin A. Eagles-Smith
Observed and projected functional reorganization of riverine fish assemblages from global change Observed and projected functional reorganization of riverine fish assemblages from global change
Climate and land-use/land-cover change (‘global change’) are restructuring biodiversity, globally. Broadly, environmental conditions are expected to become warmer, potentially drier (particularly in arid regions), and more anthropogenically developed in the future, with spatiotemporally complex effects on ecological communities. We used functional traits to inform Chesapeake Bay...
Authors
Taylor Woods, Mary Freeman, Kevin P. Krause, Kelly O. Maloney