2B+Wetlands+Degradation

media type="file" key="ecosystem photostory.wmv" width="300" height="300"Threats to Chesapeake Bay · One of the big threats to the bay is air pollution because it affects the quality of air, land and water · Nitrogen is the major contributor to the air pollution, it is a nutrient that is emitted into the air and are of concern to the health of the Chesapeake Bay · About one-third of the nitrogen that pollutes the air are made by vehicles. · Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are primarily released into the air as a by-product of combustion. NOx accounts for approximately 60 percent of the inorganic airborne nitrogen that winds up in the Bay. · The remaining 40 percent of nitrogen is ammonia and is released into the air through evaporation and emissions from industry processes. Every living thing releases wastes that include ammonia. · Organic nitrogen is released through organic nitrogen compounds (like pollen, nicotine and caffeine) that contain carbon. · Chemical contaminants that are released into the air are metals such as __mercury __ and organic contaminants such as __PCBs __ and __PAHs __. · Mercury is released into the air when coal, oil, natural gas and hazardous wastes are burned. · PCBs can pass into the atmosphere as a vapor from old electrical equipment · <span style="color: #3d3d33; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">PAHs are released into the air when fuel is burned. · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The Chesapeake Bay's land area where nitrogen emitted into the air is about 570,000 square miles, or seven times the size of the Bay, there are four main sources of airborne pollutants: stationary and area sources, mobile sources, agricultural sources and natural sources. · //__<span style="color: #0033cc; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Agricultural __////<span style="color: #3d3d33; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> sources //<span style="color: #3d3d33; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> are farm operations. The main air pollutant is ammonia, which emits from manure stored in holding areas and applied to the land as fertilizer. · //<span style="color: #3d3d33; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Natural sources //<span style="color: #3d3d33; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> are lightning, dust storms, forest fires, plants and trees, erupting volcanoes and wild animals in their natural habitat. · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Air pollution affects not only the quality of the air we breathe, but also the land and the water.

Biotic Factors Plants · Redhead grass · Wild celery · Salt meadow grass · Spatterdock · Salt marsh aster Animals · Herons · Sea nettles · Hooded merganser · Canada goose · Raccoon · Marsh snail · Mussel · Fiddler crab · Beach flea · River otter · Beach hopper

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif';">Conservation Plan for Chesapeake Bay <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Chesapeake Bay is faced with threats of air pollution that can affect the land and water as well, these pollutions like nitrogen and mercury that is released into the air from cars and factories. We can stop the pollution by recycling, cutting down on the amount of car emissions and greenhouse gases, and planting trees to improve air quality for the bay and the animals and plants that the bay supports.

A biotic of the Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay is a natural wetland that has natural water supply from tidal flows and flooding rivers. The Chesapeake Bay is a body of water where fresh and salt water mix. The Chesapeake Bay is 35 miles near the mouth of the Potomac. The Bay produces about 500 million pounds of seafood per year. The Bay holds more than 15 trillion gallons of water. The bay includes parts of six states and the entire D.C. area. Everyone lives just a few minutes from one of the mare that 100,000 streams and rivers. Water also enters the bay through underground waterways. Everything we do on land affects our streams, rivers and bays. To restore the Bay everyone has to change the way they live. The Chesapeake Bay was a bay in the nation to be targeted for restoration as an integrated ecosystem.

The importance of Chesapeake Bay <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Chesapeake Bay supports an assortment of fresh and salt water life such as major species like oysters, blue crabs, and striped bass. Some special features that support life in the bay are underwater grass beds, oyster reefs, and tidal marshes, and even fallen trees serve as habitat for bay dwellers. The bottom of the bay itself is a rich habitat oysters and clams and other bottom dwelling fish like gobies as well as worms, grasses, and other organisms that form base of the food web. This habitat can be easily disturbed or degraded, and habitat conservation issues frequently lie at the center of controversy. Since the bay severs multiple purposes for supporting the organisms that life in the bay. If the organisms in the bay die off do to over polluting, the result of the die off of the organisms will put a dent in the seafood business and the bay’s ability to support the rest of its ecosystem, possibly pollute surrounding ecosystems and the fresh water for the states that depend on the bay’s water shed.