Publications

Fish morbidity and mortality events in Chesapeake Bay tributaries have aroused concern over the health of this important aquatic ecosystem. We applied a recently described method for quantifying mRNA of an immunosuppressive cytokine, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), by reverse transcription quantitative-competitive polymerase chain reaction to a field study of fish health in the Chesapeake Ba

Over the past 40 years, antipollution laws have greatly reduced discharges of toxic substances into our coastal waters. This effort, however, has focused largely on point-source pollution of industrial and municipal effluent. No comparable effort has been made to restrict the input of nitrogen (N) from municipal effluent, nor to control the flows of N and phosphorus (P) that enter waterways fro

Species richness of local communities is a state variable commonly used in community ecology and conservation biology. Investigation of spatial and temporal variations in richness and identification of factors associated with these variations form a basis for specifying management plans, evaluating these plans, and for testing hypotheses of theoretical interest. However, estimation of species ri

The idea that local factors govern local richness has been dominant for years, but recent theoretical and empirical studies have stressed the influence of regional factors on local richness. Fewer species at a site could reflect not only the influence of local factors, but also a smaller regional pool. The possible dependency of local richness on the regional pool should be taken into account wh

Pea Patch Island in Delaware Bay is the site of the largest heronry north of Florida. From 1989–93, the population of nine species of wading birds numbered approximately 12,000 pairs, but has recently declined to about 7,000 pairs. Because Delaware Bay is a major shipping channel and receives anthropogenic releases of toxic substances from agricultural, industrial, and municipal point and nonpoint

No abstract available.

A regional ground-water-quality assessment of the Delmarva Peninsula was conducted as a pilot study for the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. The study focused on the surficial aquifer and used both existing data and new data collected between 1988 and 1991. The new water samples were analyzed for major ions, nutrients, radon, volatile organic compounds, a

During the past 25 years, industry and government have made large financial investments in manufacturing, processing, and wastewater-treatment facilities to reduce the amount of contaminants being discharged. Although these investments have led to improved water quality across the Nation, concerns about the effects of nutrients, toxins, and pathogens on human health and that of ecological communit

The Chesapeake Bay River-Input Monitoring Program was established to characterize the water quality of four major rivers in Maryland, and to quantify the load and the long-term trends in concentrations of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and suspended sediment transported from the nontidal part of each river to the Chesapeake Bay. As part of the River-Input Monitoring Program, nutrient and susp

April showers bring May flowers. Well, not always. The climate of the Chesapeake Bay area, as elsewhere, varies from year to year as anyone living in the watershed the last few years can attest.That variability, though, is more than just a conversation ice-breaker. Fluctuations in seasonal rainfall affect river flows into the Bay and can hinder nutrient reduction efforts aimed at restoring the Che

Segment 11 consists of the States of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, West Virginia, and the Commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Virginia. All but West Virginia border on the Atlantic Ocean or tidewater. Pennsylvania also borders on Lake Erie. Small parts of northwestern and north-central Pennsylvania drain to Lake Erie and Lake Ontario; the rest of the segment drains either to the At

No abstract available.