Widgeon Grass, another Chesapeake Success Story

widgeon grass

Widgeon grass. Photo credit: Bay Journal

Spurred by a tripling of widgeon grass, the acreage of underwater grasses in the Chesapeake Bay grew 8% between 2015 and 2016 to about 97,000 acres. The expanse, which exceeds the 2017 restoration goals set under the Chesapeake Bay program, was the highest recorded by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in 30 years of measurements, reports the Daily Press.

The achievement is “fantastic,” says Robert “J.J.” Orth, who heads up the seagrass monitoring and restoration program at VIMS. “It speaks a lot to the fact that … the efforts to clean up the bay, the TMDLs, probably are working.”

TDMLs, or total maximum daily loads, are limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency for levels of nitrogen, phosophorous and sediment allowed into the bay and its tributaries.

Underwater grasses are a critical element in the bay ecosystem, providing habitat for blue crabs, young fish, and other aquatic animals. They also absorb excess nutrients, buffer shoreline erosion and promote water clarity.

Widgeon grass, a food for migratory water fowl, thrives in the moderately salty waters of the middle and lower bay. A “boom or bust” species, the grass can experience rapid growth and dramatic declines. There is a risk that a 2003 die-off that resulted in the loss of half the bay’s widgeon grass could occur again. But the Daily Press says Orth is optimistic that warmer bay temperatures will forestall a repeat next year.