Facts About the Bay
- The Bay is around 200 miles long
- The width of the bay ranges from 4 miles to 30 miles
- The Bay is an estuary: a body of water that has salt water and fresh water mixed togther
- The Bay holds more than 18 trillion gallons of water (that's A LOT of water)
- The watershed of the bay is in six states: Maryland, New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia
- The Susquehanna River (the Chesapeake's largest river) provides about 19 million gallons of fresh water to the Chesapeake Bay per minute
- Largest estuary in the United States
Humans Impact on the Bay
Large amounts of land were cleared for human use. That caused loss of forest and habitats. Hunting has also had a big impact on the Bay too. Hunting practices has led to a serious decrease or extinction in species like bison, turkeys, wolves, and certain fish. The increasing effect of humans land use is degrading the condition of the Bay. Some things that humans can do is build factories and landfills away from places close to major bodies of water. People should not over hunt any species.
Flow of Energy
Energy can flow in a lot of different directions depending on what ecosystem you're using. Here are the basic steps:1. Producers/Autotrophs (plants) absorb chemicals or the sun's heat and convert it into usable energy.
2. Primary consumers/Herbivores eat the producer.
3. Secondary consumer/Carnivores eat the herbivore.
4. Tertiary consumer/Top Carnivores eat the secondary consumer.
5. Process starts all over
Somewhere in the process there will be a decomposer that eats the dead plants and animals.
2. Primary consumers/Herbivores eat the producer.
3. Secondary consumer/Carnivores eat the herbivore.
4. Tertiary consumer/Top Carnivores eat the secondary consumer.
5. Process starts all over
Somewhere in the process there will be a decomposer that eats the dead plants and animals.
Organisms Interactions
1. Bald Eagle eats Sea Ducks
2. Small Planktivorous Fish eats Zooplankton
3. Osprey eats Large Piscivorous Fish
4. Tundra Swan eats Vegetation
2. Small Planktivorous Fish eats Zooplankton
3. Osprey eats Large Piscivorous Fish
4. Tundra Swan eats Vegetation
How do biotic and abiotic factors influence the growth of populations?
Examples of biotic factors: predators, prey, plants
Examples of abiotic factors: water, sunlight, weather, light
Biotic and abiotic factors play off of each other. Biotic things wouldn't be living if there were no abiotic things. For example: all things that depend on water would die off if all water was suddenly removed from Chesapeake Bay. Most of the time organisms need abiotic things to fulfill their specific niche. Biotic and abiotic factors influence growth of populations very well.
Examples of abiotic factors: water, sunlight, weather, light
Biotic and abiotic factors play off of each other. Biotic things wouldn't be living if there were no abiotic things. For example: all things that depend on water would die off if all water was suddenly removed from Chesapeake Bay. Most of the time organisms need abiotic things to fulfill their specific niche. Biotic and abiotic factors influence growth of populations very well.
Compare and Contrast
Human Impact on the Bay
Humans have positive and negative impacts on the Chesapeake Bay.
Positive Things:
Educational programs about the Chesapeake Bay
Cleaning up pollution
Negative:
Salting roads (Throws off salinity of the Bay)
Crabbing (Taking too many female crabs)
Fertilizer (Makes more algae grow and takes away from the amt. of oxygen received)
Natural changes like droughts can be harmful to the organisms in the Bay. Droughts kill off multiple species at a time. Man-made changes like industrial waste getting into the water is can be harmful too to the organisms too. The chemicals can kill off lots of fish.
I think the long term affect of man made changes in the Bay will make most species in the Bay go extinct.
Positive Things:
Educational programs about the Chesapeake Bay
Cleaning up pollution
Negative:
Salting roads (Throws off salinity of the Bay)
Crabbing (Taking too many female crabs)
Fertilizer (Makes more algae grow and takes away from the amt. of oxygen received)
Natural changes like droughts can be harmful to the organisms in the Bay. Droughts kill off multiple species at a time. Man-made changes like industrial waste getting into the water is can be harmful too to the organisms too. The chemicals can kill off lots of fish.
I think the long term affect of man made changes in the Bay will make most species in the Bay go extinct.
Resources:http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/issues/chesapeake/food_web/levels/index.php
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/bay101
http://www.mascd.net/envirothon/wildlife/Wildlife/Ches%20Bay%20Ecosystem.pdf
http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/102/ecosystem.html
http://dictionary.reference.com/
http://www.epa.gov/oaqps001/gr8water/xbrochure/chesapea.html
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/bay101
http://www.mascd.net/envirothon/wildlife/Wildlife/Ches%20Bay%20Ecosystem.pdf
http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/102/ecosystem.html
http://dictionary.reference.com/
http://www.epa.gov/oaqps001/gr8water/xbrochure/chesapea.html