SEMINARS SPRING 2008
HONR 219I : Restoring Chesapeake Bay: Is It Possible?
Tuesday & Thursday, 3:00 – 4:30PM
Dr. Lisa Kellogg, Department of Biology
The health of the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States, has declined dramatically since European colonization. As human population in the 64,000 square mile watershed of the Bay has increased to more 16 million, the Bay’s water quality has declined and its ecosystems have degraded. Over half the forests in the watershed have been destroyed and one quarter of the land has been converted to agriculture. Five million tons of sediment and associated nutrients enter the Bay annually, reducing water quality and causing a 70% decline in seagrass cover. In some years, more than 10% of the Bay’s waters contain so little oxygen that they are lethal to the organisms that once thrived there. Historically, Chesapeake Bay has been known for its production of oysters and blue crabs, yet commercial harvest of oysters is down by over 98% and that of blue crabs by over 25%. Despite concerted efforts to rehabilitate these populations, improve water quality and restore Bay ecosystems, little progress has been made.
In this course, we will examine the factors contributing to the decline of the Chesapeake Bay and explore the challenges involved in restoring its ecosystems. The first portion of the course will provide the background necessary to understand the ecology of the Bay and how this once thriving ecosystem had been increasingly altered by humans. We will examine recent efforts to reduce human impacts, restore water quality, rehabilitate fisheries and restore ecosystem function by examining and analyzing data from three case studies in detail. First, we will look at efforts to limit nutrient inputs to the Bay and ask why farmers should alter their land management practices to protect a Bay that is hundreds of miles away from their home. Second, we will consider efforts to restore native oyster populations and evaluate the currently-proposed option of introducing a non-native species of oyster. Third, we will examine the rebound of stripped bass populations in the Bay and ask whether this story is as successful as it first appears. Each of these efforts has wide-ranging impacts on a variety of stakeholders including farmers, watermen, aquaculturists, recreational fishermen, developers, property owners, ecosystem managers, scientists and politicians. To gain a better understanding of the complexity of these issues, mock committee meetings will be held at the end of each of case study where students will take on the roles of the various stakeholders to debate whether restoration efforts should continue, and, if so, what those efforts should be.
Students' grades will be based on: 1) an exam covering the background information provided during the first portion of the course, 2) short presentations of their recommendations to the mock committee prior to each debate, 3) participation in class discussions and mock committee debates, and 4) a final paper detailing recommendations for restoring (or not restoring) one portion of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.
Readings will include selections from: Tom Horton, Turning the Tide: Saving the Chesapeake Bay; Chesapeake Bay Foundation, The 2007 Farm Bill and the Chesapeake Bay; Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Impact Statement for a Proposed Introduction of the Oyster Species, Crassostrea ariakensis, into the Tidal Waters of Maryland and Virginia to Establish a Naturalized, Reproducing, and Self-Sustaining Population of This Oyster Species; and Chesapeake Bay Program, Chesapeake Bay Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan.
CORE: Life Sciences Non-Lab
