Chesapeake Bay Activities Newsletter October 2020
The USGS provides research and monitoring to better understand and restore the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Our technical reports and journal articles, which we translate into science summaries, provide the findings used by federal, state, and local decisionmakers to inform restoration and conservation decisions. Here are some recent highlights.
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Effects of introduced species on native brook trout: a guide to the scientific literature
Issue: Native brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) are of great ecological, cultural, and economic importance in eastern North America, and their restoration is a focus of the Chesapeake Bay Program. Introduced, non-native species can jeopardize native brook trout, and more information on these effects are needed.
New Review of Sediment Science Informs Choices of Management Actions in the Chesapeake
Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) is pursuing restoration efforts to improve habitats and associated water quality for fisheries, both in the watershed and estuary. Excess sediment decreases light in tidal waters for submerged aquatic vegetation, harms oysters, carries contaminants, and impairs stream health throughout the watershed. The CBP is implementing management actions and policies that would reduce sediment transport to Chesapeake Bay, and improve local steam conditions. The efforts to manage excess sediment require improved information on sediment sources, transport, fate, impacts, and implications for management. The CBP partnership has invested in sediment science over the past several decades, but the last comprehensive synthesis was done in 2003.
Development of a suite of functional immune assays and initial assessment of their utility in wild smallmouth bass health assessments
Methods were developed for measuring immune function in Micropterus dolomieu (smallmouth bass). The ultimate objective is to monitor and evaluate changes over time in immune status and disease resistance in conjunction with other characteristics of fish health and environmental stressors. To test these methods for utility in ecotoxicological studies, 192 smallmouth bass, age 2 years and older, wer
Tracing the “Forever Chemical” in the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay Program — by Hilary Swartwood — October 27, 2020
Chesapeake Bay dead zone smaller than in recent years
Chesapeake Bay Program — Press Release — October 28, 2020
On Chesapeake cleanup, field studies and computer predictions don't always agree
Bay Journal — By Karl Blankenship — October 15, 2020