submerged aquatic vegetation – Aquarius-Systems

Restoring Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 21:19:29 +0000

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) such as wild celery and eelgrass are an important component of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

The underwater grasses improve water quality in the Bay by trapping loose sediment in their roots and remove pollutants, such as excess nitrogen, from the water column. The beds are also home to spawning fish and crustaceans and waterfowl feed on the SAV throughout the year.

Once the SAV beds were so abundant that the mats of floating vegetation fouled propellers, stopping boats from navigating many of the Bay’s shallower stretches, but now the plants occupy only a fraction of the area they have in the past.

Federal and Maryland regulators are working to restore submersed aquatic vegetation populations in the Chesapeake by planting new stands of wild celery, redhead grass, coontail and other aquatic plants.

Lose the Seagrass and Lose the Fisheries

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 16:41:26 +0000

Climate change affects creatures around the world. But land animals may have a slight advantage over marine species in running from the ill effects of global warming: the ability to escape.

The oceans absorb the majority of the excess heat. Because they distribute the heat widely, ocean temperature gains are subtle. But, even a small change in ocean temperature can have a profound impact on how marine species respond. For example, as an ocean warms, it loses oxygen, threatening the survival of species that require oxygen from the water.

North Carolina has somewhere between 100,000 and 130,000 acres of seagrass in addition to other submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) species. Fish depend on the rich estuarine habitat that flourishes along the North Carolina coast — an ecosystem that relies heavily on a meadow of grass covered by 12 inches of salt water where land and sea merge. The threat of climate change to those seemingly mundane patches — which are seldom above water — is a threat to the entire oceanic ecosystem.

A report by Duke University and N.C. State University measured the economic losses of losing submerged aquatic vegetation. The report estimated that a 5% loss of SAV over a decade would cost the state $8.7 million, and a 50% loss of SAV over a decade could cost $88.8 million.

Focus on Restoration of Aquatic Vegetation

Sun, 03 Jan 2016 21:17:00 +0000

For years it has been about getting rid of aquatic vegetation, but perhaps 2016 will be a year to focus on the restoration and the necessity of these plants to create a healthy fishery and the overall health of the ecosystem.

Marsh Lake lies within the Lac qui Parle Wildlife Management area, which is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. In the fall, as many as 150,000 Canada geese use the management area at one time. Marsh Lake is also home to Minnesota’s largest breeding colony of American white pelicans and several species of fish.

This past year, DNR crews surveying the lake were only able to find one stand of Sago pondweed. It’s a staple food source for migrating waterfowl, and one of the reasons that Marsh Lake was once known as a duck hunter’s mecca. The lake once held beds of thick Sago pondweed. Healthy stands of submerged aquatic vegetation provide food for waterfowl, habitat for other migratory birds, fish and crabs.

A key component of the project is to do what nature once did, and allow lake levels to fluctuate. A fixed-crest dam installed in 1937 has not allowed for natural fluctuations and as a result, contributed to the demise of aquatic vegetation that relies on natural water level cycles.

The Marsh Lake project calls for adding a sluice gate structure to the fixed-crest dam to allow periodic drawdowns of the lake to allow aquatic vegetation to re-establish itself. The plan would also include elements to improve fishery habitat and stabilize the riverbanks by restoring natural vegetation.

Lake Mattamuskeet is the centerpiece of the Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge located in North Carolina. The lake is home to an abundant diversity of wildlife — from the hundreds of thousands of waterfowl that winter on the lake each year to a unique fishery that consists of both freshwater and estuarine species.

Beginning in 2016, a habitat enhancement project will be implemented; focusing on maintaining submerged aquatic vegetation parts of the lake as well as increasing aquatic vegetation coverage in other areas. Healthy stands of submerged aquatic vegetation provide food for waterfowl, habitat for other migratory birds, fish and crabs. Submerged aquatic vegetation is very limited in the west basin of Lake Mattamuskeet, and in recent years has steadily declined in the east basin.