Volume 4 Number 3

Elizabeth North's oyster model will serve as one of many tools to inform the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) currently being conducted by the states of Maryland and Virginia, along with federal partners. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writer, Erica Goldman. more . . . about Assessing a Potential Introduction

The larval transport model follows the oyster's journey from spawning to settlement. Two circulation models recreate water-driven (hydrodynamic) forces on the larvae, such as currents and tides. The juvenile/adult demographic model builds directly on the larval transport model to predict oyster (native and non-native) populations in the Bay over time, up to the year 2015. This model incorporates estimates of natural oyster mortality, along with mortality from disease and harvesting, and uses equations to describe the growth rate, derived from over 60 data sets from different oyster bars. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writer, Erica Goldman. more . . . about A Tale of Two Oysters

Uncertainty - the disparity between what is known and what actually is or will be - will inevitably color the high profile decision to introduce or not introduce a non-native oyster to the Bay. Scientists can predict the abundance and distribution of oyster populations under different environmental conditions. They can model the potential for oysters to improve water quality in the Bay and evaluate the risk that a new disease or habitat change might cause to the ecosystem. Economists can predict the potential benefit of a restored oyster population for the fishery. Anthropologists can assess the social dimension of an introduction. But in the end, the Chesapeake Bay cannot simply fast-forward to 2015 to reveal what will happen under each proposed restoration scenario.Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writer, Erica Goldman. more . . . about When Science Meets Policy

When he first embarked on his quest to study the Bay, Ulanowicz had to strike a bargain, albeit a much kinder, gentler one than Faust's pact with the devil. In 1970 Ulanowicz, then an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., approached CBL director Gene Cronin with the idea of developing an ecological model of the Chesapeake Bay food web. At the time, there was no job opening for the theoretical work that he proposed, but the lab did need help with a project for the Army Corp of Engineers to measure detailed hydrodynamic properties of the Bay. Ulanowicz would be a perfect person for the job. So Cronin offered him a deal: Do the hydrodynamic work for four years, then he would give him the green light to transition into the ecological modeling Ulanowicz really wanted to pursue. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writer, Erica Goldman. more . . . about Profile - A Scientist for All Seasons

Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writer, Erica Goldman. more . . . about Et Cetera