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Science News
Blooms Beget Blooms: Harmful Algae Could Block Restoration Efforts in Chesapeake
 Given the right set of conditions, blooms of harmful algae in the Chesapeake’s tidal estuaries may be self-perpetuating. This could pose a significant problem for estuary and Bay restoration efforts, say Diane Stoecker and Jeffrey Cornwell, two researchers who have been studying the circumstances under which these potentially detrimental algae blooms thrive.
The researchers, both from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Laboratory, are studying how blooms of cyanobacteria develop and why they persist in the Sassafras River, located on the border of Cecil and Kent Counties.
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Could Fire Help Chesapeake Bay's Tidal Marshes?
 Battered by rising sea levels, some Chesapeake tidal marshes could be rescued by fire. According to two University of Maryland scientists, controlled burns, if well managed, could help marshes rebuild themselves.
Also known as prescribed burns, controlled burns are begun by igniting marsh vegetation and its undergrowth in strategic locations. Dating back to the Neolithic period, marsh burns were not only used by ancient civilizations like the Mayas and the Mesopotamians, today they are still used around the world in agriculture and environmental restoration work.
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Scientists Use Virtual Fishing to Test Options for Sustainable Management of Blue Crabs
 Now that blue crabs in the Bay seem to be making a comeback, scientists
are working with managers to find fishing practices that are both
environmentally sustainable and the most economically viable.
Until recently, research was concerned only with biological limits on
harvesting. Now researchers, like fisheries biologist Thomas Miller of
the UMCES Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, are studying the dollars and
cents of blue crab management. They are trying to understand the
combined economic and biological impacts of different fishing practices
on the long-term sustainability of the stock.
In a study funded by Maryland Sea Grant, Miller along with colleague
David Bunnell, is exploring how to fish for blue crabs in ways that
bring the most benefit to society.
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Accurate Maps Needed to Protect Streams in the Headwaters of the Chesapeake
 In many rural and suburban areas, small streams weave through patches of forest and farmland. Often overlooked by the untrained eye, these water bodies carry with them the beginnings of fragile, yet very important ecosystem processes -- clean drinking water, habitat for aquatic life, and rapid processing of nutrients. But increasing urbanization in near-coastal areas puts these delicate environments in jeopardy. With development, streams are paved over or diverted underground by culverts and stormwater drains. These processes not only inhibit all of the important ecosystem services that headwater streams provide, but can further impair water quality as it is transported downstream into the watershed. In a Maryland Sea Grant-funded study, researchers Andrew Elmore and Sujay Kaushal are working to characterize the essential nature of these channels. Elmore is at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and Sujay Kaushal is at the Department of Geology at the University of Maryland, College Park.
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Maryland Sea Grant Announces Special One-Year Funding Competition
 Maryland Sea Grant seeks innovative proposals in support of restored and sustainable coasts and watersheds for the funding period beginning February 1, 2011 and ending January 31, 2012. This special one-year competition will focus on responsive research that can provide scientific information, socioeconomics, and policy guidance for fisheries management, climate change adaptation, and restoration in coastal systems and communities in Maryland.
ATTENTION DATE CHANGE: Due to the extreme weather conditions that have afflicted Maryland this week, the Maryland Sea Grant Request for Proposals deadline for submission of preproposals is extended from Tuesday February 16 to Tuesday February 23, 2010 at 5 pm EST. If you have any questions or concerns contact research@mdsg.umd.edu.
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