It’s Not Easy Being Green

Jill Buerck, Southeast Missouri State UniversityGretchen A. Koch, Goucher College

Sarah Schubert, Southeast Missouri State University

IntroductionThe Chesapeake Bay watershed covers 64,000 square miles, with

thousands of tributaries. Given the amount of water flowing into the bay, this area, like any other, has pollution problems. Several contributing factors exist that pollute the bay, including fertilizers, air pollution, sewage, and boat discharge. About half of the pollution comes from agriculture, since fertilizer run-off adds a large amount of nitrogen to the water. Organisms such as algae thrive on the nitrogen. Algae blooms cloud the water reducing the amount of light that reaches the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Also, when the algae die, they sink to the bottom of the bay and decompose; this process uses oxygen that is vital to the survival of other organisms in the water. Measuring chlorophyll shows the amount of algae and other microscopic organisms in water and gives an indication of water quality.

Hypothesis

• In years where the nitrogen levels are high in the Chesapeake Bay, we expect a decrease in the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) population, and a increase in the invasive algae population.

Methods

• Data was gathered from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ “Eyes on the Bay: Chesapeake Bay and Costal Bays Water Quality Data” webpage.

• The data collected included measurements of dissolved oxygen levels, salinity, water clarity, pH, and temperature for five locations throughout the Chesapeake Bay.

• This information was then mapped onto our My World visualization of the Chesapeake Bay.

Methods• Using the My World software, we mapped the

locations of the water quality monitoring stations in the Chesapeake Bay watershed onto a map of the United States.

• We also mapped the rivers that feed into the Chesapeake Bay watershed and various salinity measurements associated with the world’s oceans.

• We attempted to map the data for the SAV growth for various years; however, the data files could not be converted into compatible files.

Figure 1: Map of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Figure 2: Visualization of Dissolved Oxygen Levels in July 2003

Figure 3: Summary Table of Nitrogen and SAV Levels

Tables 1-3: Tables of Dissolved Oxygen, Temperature, and Salinity Levels

Tables 4-5: Tables of pH and Water Clarity Levels

Conclusion and Future Work

• From our analysis we noticed that the lower the dissolved oxygen levels the higher the chlorophyll levels.

• Less DO is probably the result of higher nitrogen levels in the water.

• In the future, we will do a detailed analysis in Excel of the data gathered. Future work also includes getting the SAV data in a My World compatible format.

ReferencesBackgroundChesapeake Bay Foundation: http://www.cbf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=exp_sub_watershed_plants. Accessed June 16, 2008: SEMO. Department of Environmental Protection: Chesapeake Bay Program: http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/chesapeake/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=449214. Accessed June 16, 2008: SEMO.

SAV in Chesapeake Bay – Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) in Chesapeake Bay:http://www.vims.edu/bio/sav/aboutsav.html. Accessed June 16, 2008: SEMO. FiguresAndrews, Emma. Outline of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Map. Maps – History – Chesapeake Bay Program: http://www.chesapeakebay.net/maps.aspx?menuitem=16824. Accessed June 16, 2008: SEMO.

Nitrogen Level Graph and Dead Zone posters. Chesapeake Bay Foundation - Save the Bay: http://www.cbf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=edu_bra_educator_graphics. Accessed June 16, 2008: SEMO.

DataChesapeake Bay Data Set for My World. Untitled Pages: ftp://ftp.chesapeakebay.net/pub/Geographic/ChesapeakeBay/WQMonitoringStations. Accessed June 16, 2008: SEMO. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Eyes on the Bay: Chesapeake Bay and Costal Bays Water Quality Data: http://mddnr.chesapeakebay.net/eyesonthebay/index.cfm. Accessed June 16, 2008: SEMO. Chesapeake Bay Remote Sensing Program: http://www.cbrsp.org/cbrsp_toc_mb_chl_page.htm. Accessed June 17, 2008: SEMO.