Session Lead: Emily Trentacoste (US EPA CBPO/Chesapeake Bay Program); Taryn Sudol (Chesapeake Bay Sentinel Site Cooperative)
Session Co-lead: Jeni Keisman (USGS/Chesapeake Bay Program); Claire Buchanan (ICPRB)
Session Format: Oral presentations
Abstract:
The recovery, restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay’s tidal ecosystems has been a focus of regional efforts for decades. The Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) is centered on reducing nutrients to restore living resources in tidal ecosystems, and the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement adopted additional goals for restoring and protecting tidal habitats, such as wetlands. However, gaps remain in understanding the linkages between restoration efforts and tidal ecosystem response, including identifying factors that may influence recovery trajectories. Understanding these linkages is essential in order to design the most successful management strategies to reach restoration end goals. This session explores these linkages by focusing on how components of tidal ecosystems respond to potential influential drivers such as nutrient reductions or sea level rise. This session will explore relationships at various biophysical scales of tidal ecosystems from biogeochemical cycling and phytoplankton populations to marsh ecosystems and human communities; it will incorporate place-based, regional and Bay-wide studies; and it will discuss multiple tidal ecosystem restoration goals including water quality, submerged aquatic vegetation, wetlands and coastal resilience.