1. Ecosystem Services from SAV in the Chesapeake Bay
Elliott Campbell, PhD
Integrated Policy and Review
Maryland Department of Natural Resources

2. What Are Ecosystem Services?
“Benefits gained by people from the environment”
As classified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005)

3. SAV Ecosystem Services
What benefits do SAV provide compared to typical bay bottom?
Higher rates of net primary production
Stabilization of sediment and reduction of incoming wave energy
Carbon sequestration
Nitrogen sequestration
High production of blue crabs and other fish species

4. Methodology: Eco-Price
We measure what the ecosystem does
Carbon is taken up
Shoreline is protected
Nutrients are taken up
Habitat is provided
We look at what we have paid for that service (Price Signals we term Eco-Prices)
In a market
Treatment and restoration costs
Through mitigation fees
Cost to regulate

5. Methodology Broke down each service by density of the SAV bed
Used same density classes as the VIMS survey
0-10% (5% midpoint)
10-40% (25% midpoint)
40-70% (55% midpoint)
70-100% (85% midpoint)
Assumed the ES is linearly related w/ % cover (for carbon and nitrogen)

6. SAV Density

7. Carbon Eco-Price: $24 per mt Carbon
Key Ref.: Wyda et al. 2002, Moore 2004,
Greiner et al. 2013, Duarte et al. 2013

8. Nitrogen
Eco-Price: $18.33 per kg N
Key Ref.: Kemp et al. 2005

9. Blue Crab Production Dockside value of $2.40 per kg (NOAA)
Key Ref.: Ralph et al. 2002

10. Other Commercial Fish Production
Dockside value of $5.00 per kg (NOAA)
Key Ref.: Orth 1984, Sobocinski 2014

11. ES per Ha

12. Shoreline Stabilization
Not all SAV provides shoreline stabilization
Literature (Newell and Koch 2004, Koch et al.
2009) suggests importance of
SAV density
Height of SAV canopy
SAV species
Wave intensity
Depth of water column
Type of shoreline
All factor in to the degree to which SAV protects
The coast
To be conservative we only included the highest
Density class (4) within 500 m of the shore and
Assumed these beds absorb 20% of incoming
Erosive wave energy over 2/3 of year

13. ES per ha

14. SAV ES Totals for the Bay
2014 VIMS Survey Density and Acreage
1, 0-10%
1,249 ha
$238,064
$ per year
2, 10-40%
3,190
$1,612,674
3, 40-70%
9,262
$9,561,798
4, %
20,806
$36,555,135
Subtotal
$47,967,670
Cat 4 w/in 500 m
16,362
$18,939,334
CB total
34,507
$66,907,005
632
$120,357
1,017
$514,270
5,806
$5,994,585
11,116
$19,530,629
8,038
$9,304,142 MD
18,571
$35,463,983

15. 2015 Survey Increase of 2570 ha, ~ $2.4 million per year
Total ES Value $50,375,412 (w/o shoreline stabilization)

16. Questions Methane production in tidal fresh/oligohaline SAV?
Rule of thumb for shoots/m2 to % cover?
Better way to estimate fish production?
Better model for coastal protection?
Did not include replacement cost of SAV bed