NCCOS Centers Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, Silver Spring, MD CCEHBR - Cooperative Oxford Laboratory Branch, Oxford, MD Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research, Silver Spring, MD Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, Charleston, SC Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, Beaufort, NC CCFHR - Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, Seldonia, AK Hollings Marine Laboratory, Charleston, SC

Hypoxia research drivers  Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA)  In reauthorization right NOW  Assessment of Hypoxia Report due 2008  NOAA Eutrophication Assessment UPDATE 2007   Priority Topics for Nutrient Pollution in Coastal Waters: An Integrated National Research Program for the United States (2003)  US Commission on Ocean Policy 2001

The Dead Zone has more than doubled in size since the 1980’s due to increased nutrient loading from the Mississippi River watershed. In summer 2007, the Dead Zone was 7,900 square miles, the 3rd largest on record, and close to the size of New Jersey.

Updated Action Plan reduce the 5-year running average of the hypoxic zone to less than 5,000 km2 by the year 2015 Reduce Nitrogen by 45% Reduce Phosphorous by 40% Rough draft due to the Task Force in 2 weeks!

Coastal Hypoxia Research Program (CHRP) An outgrowth of the long-term Gulf of Mexico hypoxia program Support research on hypoxia in other regions Objectives Develop a fundamental understanding of the causes of hypoxia, including the role of anthropogenic vs. natural influences Develop the capability to predict the occurrence of hypoxia in response to varying levels of anthropogenic stress, and to evaluate the subsequent ecological, economic, and social impacts

CHRP Goal To provide research results and modeling tools which will be used by coastal resource managers to assess alternative management strategies for preventing or mitigating the impacts of hypoxia on coastal ecosystems.

CHRP Portfolio  34 scientists at 18 institutions are investigating hypoxia in a range of systems  Narragansett Bay  Albemarle Estuary  Puget Sound  Delaware Coastal Bays  Atlantic and Gulf Coast Estuaries  Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Inland Bays

Modeling Hypoxia and Ecological Responses to Climate and Nutrients WM Kemp (Horn Point), W. Boynton (CBL), D. DiToro (UDel), K. Fennel (Dalhousie), M. Li (Horn Pt), E. North (Horn Pt), D. Secor (CBL) Region: Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Inland Bays produce models that will predict the extent of seasonal and shorter term episodic hypoxia and other ecological responses (e.g. water quality and fishery production) to interactive effects of nutrient loading and climatic factors including wind, tides and temperature. ROMS (physical circulation) and RCA-Aesop (biogeochemistry)

Linking hypoxia-induced habitat degradation to fishery outcomes: a bioeconomic approach based on brown shrimp Kevin Craig, Larry Crowder, Martin Smith (Duke University) Region: Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine system Develop a individual-based population model to assess consequences of hypoxia severity on shrimp production; Develop a bioeconomic model that incorporates the impact of hypoxia-induced changes in shrimp ecology on fishing behavior, and its economic consequences

Watershed-Estuary-Species Nutrient Susceptibility D. Scavia & G. Helford (U Mich), R. Howarth (Cornell), R. Alexander (USGS), D. Breitburg (SERC) Regions: Atlantic and Gulf Coast Estuaries Integrate existing data and models to allow flow of information, forecasts, and scenarios from watershed and climate change, through hydrologically-modulated estuarine susceptibility to potential impacts on upper trophic levels.

Historical trends of hypoxia in three basins of Puget Sound Eric Crecelius, Jill Brandenberger (Battelle Memorial Institute), Sherri Cooper (Bryn Athyn College), Estella Leopold (U. Washington), Patrick Louchouarn (Columbia U.), Kristin McDougall (USGS) Region: Puget Sound Provide resource managers with tools (biomarkers) to indicate a basin’s status with respect to the stage of hypoxia progression, and to enhance predictive capabilities to evaluate alternative management strategies on hypoxia development

Linking water quality models with individual-based models to investigate impacts of diel-cycling hypoxia on nursery habitat quality for estuarine dependent fishes Timothy Targett, Dominic Di Toro (University of Delaware), Robert Diaz (VIMS) Region: Delaware Coastal Bays Integrate water quality and individual-based models to assess the impact of hypoxia and other outcomes of eutrophication on fish production and health.