Full document / COSOC-W-86-002 - the National Sea Grant Library

Estuarine and Coastal Management - Toolsofthe
Trade. Proceedingsof the TenthNational Conference
of The Coastal Society. October 12-15,1986. New
Orleans, LA. Copyright by The Coastal Society
1987.
Introduction
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY DOCUMENTS
SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN ABUNDANCE OF
MARYLAND SUBMERGED AQUATIC VEGETATION IN 1985
James D. Simons
The BioneticsCorporation
P.O. Be* 1575
Vint Hill Farms Station
Warrenton, VA 22186
Communities of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) are an Integral part
of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. They provide an Important habitat
for many species which use SAV either as a food source or as
protection from predators, e.g., a nursery. They reduce currents and
baffle waves, allowing for deposition of suspended material. In
addition, they bind sediments with their roots and rhizomes to prevent
erosion of the underlying material, and are important In nutrient
cycling both through the absorption and release of nitrogen and
phosphorus (Thayer, et al., 1975; Kemp, et al., 1984; Orth, et al.,
1984; Ward, et a!., 1984).
Interest in SAV communities was generated in the 1970's because of
their dramatic baywide decline. In 1976, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Chesapeake Bay Program Identified the decline and
disappearance of SAV as one of three major areas that required more
in-depth research in order to understand the state of the health of
the Chesapeake Bay. A key aspect of the SAV research prograns, begun
in 1976 and currently being funded by several Federal agencies and the
State of Maryland, entails an annual aerial monitoring of all SAV beds
In the Maryland Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. A similar effort,
which is closely coordinated with the Maryland program, Is annually
carried out in the Virginia portion of the Bay.
The first aerial survey of Maryland SAV beds was conducted In 1978 and
resulted In a comprehensive report on the SAV distribution In Maryland
(Anderson and Macomber, 1980). In that year a similar survey was
conducted for the Virginia waters of the Chesapeake Bay (Orth. et al.,
1979). In addition, an annual Maryland Department of Natural
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