Biology Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2749

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    VALUING SHALLOW WATER SYSTEMS IN MARYLAND'S CHESAPEAKE BAY
    (2022) Munkacsy, Megan; Wainger, Lisa; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Oyster aquaculture (OA) activity is sometimes framed as a hindrance to habitat, recreation, property values, and wild oyster harvest in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. Yet, tradeoffs under OA policies have not been thoroughly analyzed. I applied decision science techniques to capture alternative OA policy effects on users and ecosystem services. Stakeholders helped organize system complexities into management goals and performance indicators and shared preferences to inform indicator weights. These weights were applied to outcomes from a suite of economic and ecological models, resulting in each scenario’s stakeholder-weighted summary score. Results revealed that (1) highly protective habitat policies create a risk to future OA production while protecting less than 0.1% of habitat, (2) proposed changes to current OA policies appear less effective at balancing goals, and (3) under no policy does OA impact more than 1.3% of wild oyster revenues. This analysis served to clarify system complexities to inform policy analysis.
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    Using dredged material to restore the Chesapeake Marshlands Complex: Preliminary application of a risk-based optimization model for comparing placement options
    (2010) Shearin, Charlotte Bruce; King, Dr. Dennis M.; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Using dredged material to restore wetlands in the Chesapeake Marshlands Complex (CMC) could offer solutions to two separate problems: 1) restoring and protecting the marshes in the CMC; and 2) finding an innovative reuse for dredged material from the Chesapeake Bay approach channels. The risk-based optimization model presented here assesses and compares restoration options for two alternative years (2023 and 2036) when the project may begin and represents a preliminary screening of material placement locations. Restoration of Zones 2a (Barbados Island) and 2b (Confluence Area) appear to provide significant environmental benefits, suggesting that restoration at these locations would provide the best return on investment. Low marsh restoration also provides a significant amount of benefits accrued. Based on sensitivity analysis, it appears that the choice of when to begin the project also represents tradeoffs between onsite habitat benefits and recreational benefits. Model results should be interpreted cautiously, considering the model limitations.