...found along coastal lines, estuaries offer a safe haven for water, air and land creatures alike. One flourishing estuary in particular is located in the Tampa area and is known as the Tampa Bay Estuary. The Nitrogen cycle is a cycle where nitrogen through decaying vegetation, excrement and carcasses materialize into the nitrogen we find in the soil. The Nitrogen cycle is almost identical to the Carbon cycle. Natural Disturbance are disturbances caused by Mother Nature. Anthropogenic caused disturbances are man’s way of harming the ecosystem. Nature has a way of recovering with and without help. Estuary Ecosystem The United States of American is a country that consists of many different ecosystems in a relatively small space. From the arid desert climate with scorching temperatures to mountainous areas that stay frozen year round, the United States has many different ecosystems to offer. One ecosystem in particular is the estuary system. Normally found along coastal lines, estuaries offer a safe haven for water, air and land creatures alike. It also offers a great area for many different types of vegetation to grow. One state with a plethora of estuaries is the state of Florida. Florida, having a relatively warm climate year round and having a coast line that almost surrounds the entire state, gives these ecosystems a great environment to flourish. One flourishing estuary in particular is located in the Tampa area and is known as the Tampa Bay Estuary. This 400 square mile protected...
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...oyster population of the Navesink and Shrewsbury estuary was a key component to the environment, biological health of the waterways and important economic component of the regions early development. The loss of this key element of the healthy estuary ecosystem has negatively impacted the environment through the absence of the oysters filtering capabilities and habitat development from oyster reefs and a healthy and thriving oyster population. The proposed reintroduction of the native oyster population to the Navesink and Shrewsbury estuary where the species is a basically extinct due to overharvesting, poor resource management and pollution will result in improved water quality, biodiversity and the overall environment...
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...LAB 9B 1. Scroll down the CBOFS website and click on now-cast under the water level icon. The water level animation which appears displays the most recent water levels in local time at a [ (1) (2) (3) ]-hour interval. 2. Water levels are reported in the animation relative to the MLLW in feet and are color coded in the animation with the lowest water levels (indicating low tide) most likely represented by [ (green to red) (blues and purples) ]. 3. The animation shows the tides moving through the estuary [ ( towards) ( away from) ] the mouth of the bay. Figure 2 shows water level changes during one tide’s journey through the Bay. 4. The times shown below the maps, indicate it probably took about [ (3) (6) (12) ] hours for the low tide to travel the entire length of the Bay. 5. In figure 2, mark the location of Kiptopeke ( Beach), VA, on the map to the left at 37.1 degrees N, 76.0 degree W (or you can find the location on the CBOFS website map). It is [ (northwest) (northeast) ]. 6. The comparison of the 0600 25 April Water level now-cast map in figure 2 with the predicted and observed water levels in figure 3 for the same time are consistent on showing the presence of a [ (low) (high) ] tide in the mouth of the bay. 7. Knowing the direction of movement of tides in Chesapeake Bay as seen in the water levels Now-cast animation, figure 2 reveals that this tide (identified in item 6) progressed about [ (half) (the entire length) ] of the bay in the subsequent five hours...
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...source and sink of energy, and all the chemical elements required by the autotroph and the decomposer” (Botkin & Keller, 2011, chapter 1.1). Texas has many ecosystems throughout the state from the panhandle to the Gulf Coast. Living along the Gulf Coast an ecosystem close to my community would be Galveston Bay. Galveston Bay as an Ecosystem Galveston Bay is a semi-enclosed body of water where fresh water from rivers and bayous mixes with salt water from the Gulf of Mexico and this is known as an estuary. According to "Galveston Bay Estuary Program" (2003-2004),” Estuaries are one of the planet's most productive and important ecosystems. Estuaries like Galveston Bay are "nature's nurseries." The bay nurtures juvenile shrimp, oysters, crabs, and fin fish. Without a well-functioning estuary, there would be little local seafood in restaurants, recreational and commercial fishing would decline dramatically” (why are estuaries important). Human Effects on Watershed According to Sage and Gallaway (2002), “man often dramatically influences the bay, either by influencing the natural pattern of bay inputs, or by disrupting its habitats. Changes in inputs include discharging pollutants into the bay or altering the natural patterns...
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...Estuary Abiotic Factors Physical Environment: An estuary is rarely deep, never exceeding more than 100ft. Because estuaries do not occur in any particular latitude temperature, precipitation, and sunlight varies greatly. Water flows from inland to the ocean. Chemical Environment: Estuaries contain brackish water, which is a mix of fresh and salt water. The salinity is never more than in normal ocean water, and decreases the further inland you go. Compounds that reach the ocean by runoff are present in estuaries. Geologic Features: An estuary is semi-enclosed, with the ocean at one end and a river on the other. Estuaries are not affected by the seasons. Biotic Factors Producers include, algae, phytoplankton, spike grass, cordgrass, sea grass, purple loosestrife, sea lavender, and other aquatic plants. Consumers include many different birds, fish, crustaceans, bivalves, and microscopic organisms. Estuaries are very vulnerable to runoff from nearby farms. Many estuaries have experienced great human impact from the widening of the mouth, where the estuary meets the sea, to allow ships to pass through. This causes erosion and higher salinity within the ecosystem. Invasive species include purple loosestrife, which suppresses native species, and Asian clams, which cover the riverbed and clog pipes. Policy The Estuary Protection Act highlighted the values of estuaries and the need to conserve their natural resources. It authorized the Secretary...
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...tributaries. Females lay eggs in fresh or brackish water close to the shore. The eggs hatch in two to three days. Larvae move slowly downstream, and juveniles live in the shallows of tidal rivers during the summer. Many of them spend the first years of their lives in the same river where they were born. The life cycle of Striped bass is about 10 to 30 years. Striped bass is semi-anadromous; their yearly migrations from the Atlantic Ocean into the Bay follow a precise schedule. After entering the Bay in the winter, females wait in the estuary’s deeper channels for the right spawning conditions that occur in the spring. When the water temperatures in the Bay reach around 54 to 57° F, females lay their eggs in the freshwater parts of the estuary. These areas experience a rapid growth of plankton on which the young fish to feed. Warming waters due to climate change can significantly affect the timing of striped bass migration from the Atlantic. When the temperature of the water changes by 1.8oF from one year to the next, the fish alter their date of departure by about three days (Strain,2014). Conclusion The Chesapeake Bay is a complex but delicate ecosystem that is a habitat for diverse aquatic and plant species. However, several environmental and human agents threaten its capacity to support such diversity. For many years, human activities and climate change impacts have caused considerable damage to the Bay and its fish, plants and wildlife populations. While the damage attributable...
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...Jonathan Berjikian UID: 204 84 6339 CEE 185EW The Exemplification of the Tragedy of the Commons in the Chesapeake Encompassing six states and the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay is among the largest estuaries in the world. The bay serves as a source of food, water, and entertainment to the millions of people that inhabit its watershed. Over the past century, anthropogenic pollutants, such as nitrogen and phosphorous-rich industrial fertilizers, enter the bay and spark the creation of hypoxic zones that threaten water quality and inhibit marine life. As the human population surrounding the bay continues to grow, efforts to have the states’ government improve the condition of the bay have been fruitless. The implementation and enforcement...
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...estuarine system in the United States, the importance of maintaining that ecosystem is at an all time high. The EPA reports that over half of the fresh water entering the estuarine in the Middle Atlantic Region. (epa.gov, 2014) There have been a decrease in the ecosystems ability to maintain the native oyster population due to several reasons. Over fishing has been one of the causes of this. (Cerco, 2005)Other causes include but are not limited to disease and the destruction of the habitat. Additionally, the increased population growth rate, heightened sewage dumping, and further development of agricultural lands have had its fair share in the blame as well. In 1975, the EPA cited that the Chesapeake Bay became the Nation's first estuary to be targeted for protection and restoration. (EPA.gov, 2014) Due to the fact that 25% of our shellfish comes from the Chesapeake Bay, I say again that this is a major concern. As we think about some of the nutrients that play a role in the survival as well as the diminishing of the natural ecosystem one that has a double edge sword is nitrogen. Proper levels of nitrogen is good for the maintenance of the natural ecosystem as well as continue to productivity of that environment. High concentrations of nitrogen, however have an adverse effect. Elevated levels of nitrogen creates an increase in the growth of algae which then has a...
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...I found the highest number of L. polyphemus in the Main Lagoon, although the difference in the number found in the Main Lagoon and Moon Pond was not statistically significant. The Main Lagoon seems to have favorable environmental conditions for horseshoe crabs, as it is the sub-basin with the largest area for them to inhabit, and it has the deepest water. However, not a lot of information is known about the habitat preferences and requirements of horseshoe crabs. Because they can tolerate and cope with a wide range of environmental conditions, especially temperature and salinity, adults are classified as environmental generalists (Sekiguchi & Shuster, 2011). Horseshoe crabs have been encountered in water greater than 200 meters, but studies suggest that adults prefer depths less than 30 meters (Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, n.d.). Adult L. polyphemus are exclusively subtidal, except during the times they go to shore to spawn (ASMFC, n.d.). Spawning adults prefer sandy beach areas within bays and coves that are protected by wave energy (Smith et al. 2002; Jackson et al. 2002; Landi et al. 2015), and return several times during the spawning season (FWS, 2009). Horseshoe crabs generally inhabit areas adjacent to spawning beaches while spawning (FWS, 2009), and the Main Lagoon has an abundance of sandy beaches available for spawning during the spring and summer months. Moon Pond had the second highest abundance of individuals. However of the 22 individuals found in...
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...Buddy Day Buddy day is a public participation event, to bring awareness to the issue of child abuse, mentally ill and disable people in our community and the role we all have in keeping our children safe. Buddy day has proven itself as an initiative that benefits a wide range of individuals, groups and schools in our community. Schools have been enthusiastic about the benefits to children, and individuals have gained a great sense of purpose through their involvement. What I did on buddy day for 5 hours On buddy day we got in to pairs and then we got our buddy for the day. The person who would be our buddy for the day would be old aged, mentally ill or disable, and this is when the day starts I was scared to do this because I didn’t know...
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...The Problem of Bread and the French Revolution at Bordeaux Author(s): Richard Munthe Brace Source: The American Historical Review, Vol. 51, No. 4 (Jul., 1946), pp. 649-667 Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1843902 . Accessed: 31/05/2014 09:57 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Oxford University Press and American Historical Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The American Historical Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 168.28.193.235 on Sat, 31 May 2014 09:57:49 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The Problem of Breadand the French Revolution at Bordeaux RICHARD MUNTHE BRACE* IN France throughout the eighteenth century, the city of Bordeaux experienced a progressive commercial development. Among the assets contributing to this growth were excellent harbor facilities and the fortunate location for trade with the West Indies...
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...Abstract Pollution of waterways from land use and urbanisation has been identified as one of the key pressures on estuaries and their associated biodiversity. The accumulation of heavy metals and bioavailable pollutants in sediments jeopardises the health of the waterways and associated biodiversity and aquaculture. Sydney Harbor is one of the most polluted in the world due to the intense urbanisation around its tributaries and historical pollution that gets reintroduced with anthropogenic activities like dredging- with our findings showing highest proportions of sediment along the river being of adequate size to form aggregates with pollutants. The dynamic nature of estuaries is also in jeopardy due to global warming caused rises in mean water levels, flooding areas and reducing viable habitat- supported by lower levels of copepods and other macroinvertebrates and zooplankton, and shifts in mangrove populations. Estuaries are a significant coastal feature in that they represent the interface between freshwater rivers and the saline ocean (Statham, 2012). The mixing of the two due to differing densities creates a unique environment in which to support many organisms, some of which are dependent upon the unique tide dictated salinity regimes of the area. These interfaces are areas of high production, as inland nutrients are washed down in the river and mix with nutrient laden sea water, creating a virile and protected section of water which provides habitat...
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...As natural sand spit stretching south-west to north-east across the entrance to the Exe estuary in Devon, Dawlish has played a very important role in protecting the West Country railway line and other places from being attacked by the strong sea wave and flooding (Environment Agency, 2015). According to Environment Agency (2015), since the narrow part of Dawlish Warren stands at a greater risk of being breached by strong sea waves and rising sea level, the breaching would lead to the flooding of the railway line and other coastal communities such as Starcross. Therefore, the Dawlish coastal engineering scheme plays a vital role in preventing those estuary communities and the railway line from being affected or damaged by the sea waves and floods....
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...Zidian Lyu 998054799 GEL 001, SECTION 04 Seventh Draft The Problems and Solutions for Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Introduction The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (SSRD) is formed at the confluence of the south-flowing Sacramento River and the north-flowing San Joaquin River (Fig.1). The estuary encompasses 1,600 square miles, drains over 40 percent of the State of California, and provides habitat and stop-over ground to numerous species of fish and wildlife. (Association of California Water Agencies, 2014) Because of its special geographical position, about two-thirds of salmon that migrate into California pass through the Delta, as do nearly half the migrating waterfowl and shorebirds (Association of California Water Agencies, 2014). Besides, due to the world's largest man-made plumbing job, the estuary provides 7.2 million acre-feet of water a year for export, irrigates 4.5 million acres of farmland, and provides drinking water for 20 million Californians (Association of California Water Agencies, 2014). For these reasons, the SSRD becomes the most important estuary on the west coast. Climate change and man-made modifications to the delta have resulted in many environmental and ecological problems. Problems such as agricultural irrigation, urban water usage, land use and control can threaten citizens’ lives and prosperity. Solutions to mitigate this ecological disaster mainly focus on the divisions between environmental and economic interest. To achieve...
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...most common type of tidal plant. A dam or a barrage is installed usually when there is a narrow water channel with gates and turbines at certain points * Tidal Turbines work like an underwater wind turbine, using the tides to turn blades and generate electricity. How does it work? * Tidal Energy works more like hydro-electric scheme, except the dam is much more bigger. * A huge dam called a “barrage” is built across a rive estuary, and when the tide goes in and out, the water flow’s through tunnels in the dam. Advantages: * Once you’ve built it, tidal power is free * It produces no greenhouse gases or other water * It needs no fuel * It produces electricity reliably * It is not expensive to maintain * Tides are totally predictable * Offshore turbines and vertical-axis turbines are not really expensive to build and do not have a large environmental impact. Disadvantages: * Only provides power for around 10 hours each day, when the tide is actually moving in or out. * A barrage across an estuary is very expensive to build. * It affects a very wide area by taking up all the space for the tidal generation * Fishes can migrate unless “fish ladders” are installed. *...
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