Human Impact on Estuaries and Management Issues

Long Island Sound -— Gardiners Bay Great South Bay Barnegat Bay ---Delaware Inland Bays 

Upper Laguna Madre Baffin Bay Lower Laguna Madre- 

River Plume T n / / Tampa Bay / / Sarasota Bay / Charlotte Harbor-/ Calcoosahatchee R. 

Fortunately, we are beginning to actually detect measurable improvements in the water quality of some estuaries due to scientifically based nutrient reductions and extensive longterm monitoring studies. For example, the Patuxent River in Maryland (USA), a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, experienced extensive eutrophication from sewage inputs and non-point sources over four decades (1960-2000 D Elia et al., 2003). 

New approaches using integrated ecological and economic modeling are providing new tools for adaptive management of estuaries (Constanza and Voinov, 2000). For example, 

---