Conservation Tools

Evaluation of floristic quality assessment as a potentially an important tool for conservation efforts in the northern Great Plains of North America.

The purpose of this report is to present a synthesis of the USGS Chesapeake Bay science related to the Chesapeake Bay Program's 2001–06 goals and their implications for environmental management. The report provides USGS findings that address the science needs of the Chesapeake Bay Program's restoration goals and includes summaries of 1. land-use change; 2. water quality in the watershed, including nutrients, sediment, and contaminants; 3. long-term changes in climate and estuarine water quality; 4. estuary habitats, focusing on submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and tidal wetlands; and 5. factors affecting fish and waterbird populations.

Timber harvesting, increases in agricultural and urban lands, and the lack of protective environmental practices have led to excess sediment and nutrients washed into the Bay. When sediment, which is composed of loose particles of clay, silt, and sand, becomes suspended, it makes the water cloudy and reduces the amount of sunlight that reaches the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) that provides habitat and stability to the bay. The reduction in water clarity in the Bay has lead to a drastic decline in SAV over the past 30 years and this coupled with poor water quality, leaves the Chesapeake Bay classified as an “impaired water body”.