Partnership Members Chesapeake Research Consortium The Johns Hopkins University

1. (a) (b) Figure 5. The SAV Restoration Handbook, jointly authored by several FW SAV Partnership members and published by Horne Engineering, will be a valuable resource to the DoD community as more installations become involved in SAV restoration and monitoring. Partnering for Success in Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Research, Restoration, and Education in the Chesapeake BayFreshwater SAV Partnership, Chesapeake Research Consortium, Edgewater, MDRebecca M. Thur (thurb@si.edu) Why Focus on Freshwater SAV? Freshwater, tidal fresh, and oligohaline (0.5 – 5 ppt salinity) species of SAV are particularly imperiled because of their position in the headwaters of the estuary, near the sources of major nutrient, contaminant, and sediment inputs. In addition to being at greater risk, freshwater species are arguably the most critical component of the Chesapeake Bay SAV community. They are the Bay’s first line of defense, intercepting and filtering nutrients and trapping sediments before they can reach and impact more saline areas. Without this buffer, excessive nutrients can lead to algal blooms, anoxia, and epiphyte growth on halotolerant SAV species. Hence, increases in freshwater SAV coverage can enhance not only the immediate habitat in which they live, but also have significant positive impacts on water quality, eutrophication, and productivity in downstream portions of the Bay. Partnership Mission At its inception in the fall of 2002, the Freshwater (FW) SAV Partnership outlined its mission to expand current knowledge and research on: 1) basic biology, physiology, and ecology of freshwater, tidal fresh, and oligohaline SAV; 2) new approaches to propagating and restoring these taxa. With support from the U.S. Army Environmental Center, the CRC is overseeing activities of the FW SAV Partnership, currently comprised of 20 Federal and State agencies, academic institutions, and other non-governmental organizations (listed in gray box, center). Introduction Historically, the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries were host to expansive meadows of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). But by the 1970’s, the coverage of SAV in the Bay had dropped from above 80,000 to below 16,000 hectares. This drastic decline has been attributed to a combination of long-term deterioration of water quality, disease, and the scouring effect of Hurricane Agnes in 1972. While SAV has gradually rebounded in recent decades (Fig. 1), its current coverage is still far below historic levels, as well as the new restoration goal of approximately 75,000 hectares set by the Chesapeake Bay Program in the 2003, following adoption of the Chesapeake 2000 agreement. Partnership Activities The FW SAV Partnership has demonstrated through several collaborative activities that the benefits of forming or joining a partnership can be productive, and the results, positive (see below). In this way, the Partnership continues to act as a visible advocate for and facilitator of freshwater aquatic vegetation restoration and the important role that it plays in reaching the Bay-wide goal of restoring 75,000 hectares (185,000 acres) of Bay grasses by the year 2010. Partnership Members Chesapeake Research Consortium The Johns Hopkins University Old Dominion University Penn State University Institutes of the Environment Smithsonian Institution University of Maryland Center for Environmental Studies Virginia Institute of Marine Science --- Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay Anne Arundel Community College Chesapeake Bay Foundation Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Harford Community College Harford County Parks & Recreation, Anita C. Leight Estuary Center National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Chesapeake Bay Office U.S. Army, Aberdeen Proving Ground U.S. Army Environmental Center U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Chesapeake Bay Office U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Chesapeake Bay Field Office U.S. Geological Survey Restoration/Monitoring Partnership members have continued to conduct their independent work, as well as to initiate cooperative, multi-partner SAV plantings (Fig. 4) and proposals (see bottom). Partners are also pursuing laboratory research, measuring water quality parameters, and mapping SAV coverage though aerial and groundtruthing surveys. Figure 4. (a) An outdoor SAV grow-out tank containing mature water stargrass (Heteranthera dubia) at U.S. Army installation, Aberdeen Proving Grounds (APG). (b) This and 3 other species of SAV grown in APG tanks were harvested for a multi-partner planting effort in the Bush River in August of 2004. Photos by R. Thur, CRC. Release Pending from CBP No Data Figure 1. SAV cover in the Chesapeake Bay from 1984 – 2004 (1 hectare = 2.471 acres). The “Historic” bar (blue) represents a composite of maximum Baywide SAV coverage experienced from the 1930s to 1971, prior to decline. Note the recovery period observed from 1984 to 1993, following initial efforts to improve water quality. The 2010 restoration goal (yellow bar) of approximately 75,000 hectares (185,000 acres) was established in April 2003. Actual SAV cover (green bars) is now determined annually from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) aerial survey data. Restoration Handbook In addition to on-the-ground activities, Partnership efforts have resulted in the completion of a comprehensive SAV restoration handbook (Fig. 5). for both Department of Defense installations in the Chesapeake Bay Basin (84 total), and for the larger restoration community. Partnership members were instrumental in presenting and demonstrating the restoration and monitoring concepts described in the handbook to DoD personnel at an interactive workshop held in November of 2004. The handbook is scheduled for release in summer of 2005. • Important Roles of SAV • Acts as a primary indicator of the Bay’s water quality; • Provides nursery habitat, food, and refuge for fish, shellfish, and blue crabs (Fig. 2); • Protects and stabilizes nearshore environments from erosion by baffling wave energy; • Filters and traps sediments in the water column, increasing water clarity and light penetration (Fig. 3); • Removes toxins and nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, from the water column; • Oxygenates the surrounding water, which is highly beneficial to other aquatic life, through photosynthesis; • Provides a nutritious food source (grasses and seeds) for native and migratory waterfowl species; • Produces detritus as it decomposes, which serves as a valuable food source for zooplankton. Figure 2. Mating blue crabs found in a bed of redhead grass (Potomogeton perfoliatus). Studies have shown that blue crab numbers can be up to 30 times higher in SAV beds than in bare areas. Photo by P. Bergstrom, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office. Website and Headwaters Newsletter The Partnership website (www.chesapeake.org/SAV/partnershiphome.html) has become a valuable tool for partner organizations and other interested parties by providing an outlet for rapid distribution of FW SAV information, such as online and printed reference materials, funding opportunities, current and past restoration project summaries, conference and workshop announcements, and contact information for area SAV experts and supply vendors. Why a Partnership? Despite its clear importance, scientific information about freshwater SAV species is lacking compared to that available for more halotolerant species. Progress in the areas of freshwater SAV research and restoration had been occurring on a small scale through the efforts of individual agencies with finite resources and multiple missions. In response to increasing interest in addressing the freshwater SAV knowledge gap, the Chesapeake Research Consortium (CRC) was asked to form a collaborative partnership to provide a means by which funding, research, restoration, and propagation projects, as well as outreach efforts, could be leveraged, pooled, and coordinated. In January 2005, the Partnership also began issuing a quarterly newsletter that features partner-involved restoration research and restoration projects, lists upcoming funding deadlines and conferences, provides citations for newly published peer reviewed journal articles and other literature of interest to the FW community, and highlights noteworthy local, regional, and national SAV issues. Each issue of Headwaters is available for download as a PDF or MS Word file on the “News & Current Projects” page of the Partnership website. Figure 3. Aerial photograph taken in 2001 over the upper Patuxent River, MD. The ebb tide causes a plume of clearer water to move offshore, out of the fringing SAV bed, where it mixes with the much more turbid channel water. Photo from VIMS aerial survey. Collaborative Proposals Submitted:Weir Cove Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Restoration Project, to FishAmerica Foundation and NOAA Restoration Center (5/04); Bush River Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Restoration Project, to NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (7/04); Continued Development and Coordination of DoD Installation Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Programs in the Chesapeake Bay, to U.S. Department of Defense Legacy Resource Management Program (8/04), and to U.S. Army Environmental Center (9/04)*; Demonstrating Cross-Habitat Restoration Methods with Engineered Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) and Emergent Vegetation (EV) Combined Habitats in the Chesapeake Bay, to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (3/05)** (*Indicates successful submission, **Indicates award decision pending )