Development of a Suspension Feeding and Deposit Feeding Benthos Model for Chesapeake Bay (11.8 MB)

Publication date: 7/1/2000 | Type of document: Report

The coupled water quality-sediment diagensis model for the Chesapeake Bay has been enhanced with the addition of the dynamically-computed benthic biomass. The benthos was divided into two functional components, deposit-feeding polychaetes and suspension-feeding bivalves. An empirical relationship was derived based on monitoring data for the dominant species inhabiting the major salinity regimes of the Chesapeake Bay that related modeled areal biomass to characteristic individual size, so that filtration and respiration rates vary dynamically over time and space.

Review of the Benthic Process Model with Recommendations for Future Modeling Efforts (771 KB)

Publication date: 2/1/2002 | Type of document: Report

The Benthic Process Model Review Team, assembled by the Modeling Subcommittee during Fall 2000, reviewed the benthic model developed for the Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Model, a component of Chesapeake Bay Estuary Modeling Package. Review of the model presented in the technical, report, Development of a Suspension Feeding and Deposit Feeding Benthos Model for Chesapeake Bay (USCE 0410) was guided by questions provided by the Modeling Subcommittee. The Review Team was further charged with advising the Modeling Subcommittee regarding the future directions in benthic process modeling that will be needed in order to satisfy the goals and objectives stated in the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement.

Nutrient and Solids Controls in Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Tributaries

Publication date: 6/1/2002 | Type of document: Report

A model package including a watershed model, an atmospheric loading model, a hydrodynamic model, and a eutrophication model are used to evaluate the benefit of nutrient and solids load controls on the Virginia tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay. Quantities examined include nutrients, solids, chlorophyll, anoxic volume, mesozooplankton, benthos, light attenuation, and submerged aquatic vegetation. Nutrient load controls are beneficial in reducing chlorophyll concentration and anoxic volume but produce no major benefits for zooplankton and benthos. Load controls benefit aquatic vegetation biomass, but more extensive solids controls are required to restore widespread SAV distribution.

Chesapeake Bay Benthic Community Restoration Goals

Publication date: 3/1/1994 | Type of document: Report

The objective of this project was to develop a practical and conceptually sound framework for assessing benthic environmental conditions in Chesapeake Bay that would address general constraints and limitations; i.e., naturally varying habitat elements, such as salinity, sediment type, and depth, and different sampling methodologies.

Tributary Refinements to the Chesapeake Bay Model

Publication date: 4/15/2002 | Type of document: Report

A series of refinements were added to a previously-completed three-dimensional eutrophication model of Chesapeake Bay. Refinements included increased grid resolution in the western tributaries and in shallow littoral areas, extension of the grid onto the continental shelf, extension of the validation period to 1985-1994, and addition of living resources. Computations of zooplankton, submerged aquatic vegetation, and benthos compared successfully with observations aggregated over annual time scales and at spatial scales on the order of 100 km2.