Portfolio I: Estuarine Processes

Our Response

Chesapeake Bay is the centerpiece of MDSG investments in the study of estuarine processes. An early and very successful focus on oxygen depletion produced some of the most compelling data and information we have on Bay plankton dynamics, informing us about nutrient inputs and transformations, the role of physical processes, phytoplankton metabolism, and benthic-pelagic coupling. This example is emblematic of our approach to estuarine processes in the Bay. We and our partners have identified areas of study that require coordinated research activities, solicited and supported research proposals to address those areas, disseminated information arising from the MDSG-sponsored research program, and coordinated these activities with regional and national management communities who are the natural clients for the scientific information that is generated by research.

The restoration of Chesapeake Bay guides much of the effort of MDSG to promote research on estuarine processes. We have historically invested research funds in a diverse, but thematically concise and related group of studies to investigate essential aspects of ecological processes in Chesapeake Bay. These include: historical trends, nutrient enrichment and processing, trophic dynamics, and ecosystem-scale analyses. Over the past ten years MDSG has invested over $2.8 million of omnibus funding in eighteen different studies, and has overseen fourteen federal pass-through grants for an additional $7.7 million. The Achievements section gives thumbnail sketches of some of the research findings generated by scientists supported by MDSG, organized around major themes in ecological processes.