Lead Institution(s): Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Project Lead: David M. Kidwell
Collaborator(s): Matthew Perry (PWRC), Kenned Paytner (UM)
Focal Species: Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)
Project Description: This project sought to determine habitat use of scoters in Chesapeake Bay and whether these habitats are being affected by degrading environmental conditions. Objectives included: 1) Determine the location of feeding surf scoters in the lower (high mesohaline – polyhaline) Chesapeake Bay; 2) Determine the species and biomass composition of benthic invertebrates at sites with feeding surf scoters and sites without feeding scoters (both middle and lower Bay); and 3) Describe the abiotic characteristics (sediment, dissolved oxygen, and salinity) at all sites. To gain a bay-wide perspective, we sampled sites in the in middle and lower Bay that contained feeding surf scoters and compared them against nearby sites that did not contain feeding scoters. Benthos were sampled in summer, fall, and spring at middle Bay sites and in early summer at the lower Bay sites. Sites in the lower Bay will be sampled a final time in October. Additionally, we determined the sediment grains size, salinity, and dissolved oxygen at each site. Salinity and dissolved oxygen were determined both on site and from nearby water quality monitoring stations.
SDJV78 Interim Report FY06
Related Publications
Kidwell, D.M. 2007. Habitat use of surf scoters wintering in the mesohaline region of the mainstem Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. M.Sc. Thesis. University of Maryland College Park. https://www.proquest.com/openview/d7f76f02347dda68d4e1c17f43f8577a/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750
