1. Submerged Aquatic Vegetation
Lottie Nolan
Aaron Baker
Eduardo Santos
Tristan Bonds

2. Problem Statement
Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) is diminishing due to human activity. What are some suggestions on how to help restore the
SAV?

3. What is S.A.V?
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation: Vascular plants that live and grow completely underwater or just above the waters surface when they are flowering.

4. Environmental Parameters for SAV found in
Oligohaline Sounds and Estuaries of North Carolina
(Ferguson and Wood 1994)
Species
Salinity
Range
(ppt)
Secchi
Depth Range
(m)
Water Depths Range
Red Head Grass
0-20
Wild Celery
0-10
Eurasian Water-milfoil
Southern naiad
Sago Pondweed
0-9

5. Common SAV Plants Stuckenia pectinata Myriophyllum spicatum
Elodea-also known as water weed, it is commonly spread throught the united states.  its an invasive species that was brought over from Europe.
Hydrilla-  it is native to the cool waters of Europe, it was also brought over from Europe and it is also an invasive species
Coontail- this sav is commonly found in ponds marshes and quiet streams with a hot tropical climate
Sago pondweed
 Myriophyllum spicatum
Eurasian watermilfoil (invasive)
 Najas guadalupensis
Southern naiad

6. Common plants we identified…
Ruppia martima
Widgeon grass
Chara
Muskgrass

7. What is turbidity?
"Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by individual particles (suspended solids) that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air."

8. Hypothesis
Human activity causes damage and/or death to many different species of SAV. In the future, human activity if left unchanged will cause the extinction of many SAV species.

9. What we know... SAV is Submerged Aquatic Vegetation
SAV is partially submerged in water if not fully submerged
SAV is an important habitat to under water animals
Its distribution and abundance is rapidly decreasing due to human activity

10. Invasive plant that we identified
Myriophyllum spicatum- Eurasian watermilfoil

11. How SAV is being affected.
TURBIDITY
The factor that is becoming the the biggest cause of the dieing SAV is turbidity, now what causes it can be a variety of things like; suspended sediment that blocks out sun light, contributers of this are, runoff from farmes, construction of highways, and boat traffic
an increase of nutrients causes an increase of algea which in turn causes sunlight to be blocked out, an the nutrients can come from many things,  sewage treatment plants, acid rain, agricultural fields and fertilized lawns
    

12. How is the decline of SAV affecting the water?
Water quality
Turbidity
The decline of SAV is causing
the water quality to decrese. 
The loss of the sea grass is making
the water cloudy.  It is causing the fish to migrate because their homes are disapearing.

13. Why is SAV important?
Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem, which is almost identical to that of Currituck Sound
Shelter
Erosion control
Algae control
Why is it important
Sav is very important to the Chesapeake bay ecosystem, and beds of sav are found all through out the bay, but in fewer acres then they once where.
Sav serves as a natural safe house for finfish and shell fish from predators.
Juvenile blue crabs can be in quantitys 30 times larger in beds of sav then in non sav areas sav produces oxygen as a by product of photosynthesis, which is essential to keeping for animals living in the bay.
Sav can help slow erosion by keeping sediment down with there roots and slow the force of waves that would otherwise take more sand from the beaches.
SAV uses the same nutrients tha algae uses and by beating them to it keeps algae growth from flaring out of control

14. Why is it important to fisheries and wild life?
Food
Shelter
Cleans
They provide critical food for many fish.
They provide shelter for many aquatic organisms.
They also remove harmfull polution from the water.

15. How are humans affecting the SAV?
 Boating
 Pesticides
 Runoff
humans affect SAV in many ways Boating, sewage treatment plants, construction of highways, runoff, and even in more indirect ways like causing acid rain

16. How turbidity affects the SAV
turbitity, which is usually invisable to the naked eye, limits the amount of sun light that penetrates through the water thus limiting the amount of plants able to survive since photosynthesis uses sunlight, it would be like giving a hundred 20 people a happy meal and telling them to survive off of it.

17. Common SAV Plants in Oligohaline Sounds and Estuaries in North Carolina
Ruppia maritima-widgeon grass
Myriophyllum spicatum-Eurasian watermilfoil
Ceratophyllum demersum-coon tail
Najas guadalupensis-southern naiad
Potamogeton perfoliatus-redhead
Vallisneria americana-wild celery
Stuckenia pectinata-sago pondweed
Oligohaline- salinity between 0.5ppt to 5.0ppt

18. Desired levels definition of pH-
pH-the desired levels for pH is 6.5 to 8.2
D.O-the desired levels of dissolved oxygen is 5-6ppm
definition of pH-
A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, if it equals seven that means its neutral,
Salinity between .5 and 18ppt

19. What we found.. ECSU 03- pH-7.8 Salinity 4.8 ECSU- 04 pH-7.21
ECSU 03-
pH-7.8
Salinity 4.8
ECSU- 04
pH-7.21
Salinity 0.41
CS05-
pH-7.84
Salinity 6.96
PR 02-
pH-6.71
Salinity 3.08
DS01-
pH(s)-5.64
pH(b)-14.63
Salinity 0.06

20. Suggestions to reduce the decline SAV..
Off limit areas
The best way to eradicate all problems affecting SAV would be to completely remove the number one factor that is ailing them. Humans, and while this is obvoiusly an unresanoble suggestion it would also be the most effective. So to be a little more resonable another good way to help there population would be to have SAV beds off limits to boaters, and strickter laws limiting the amount of nutrients farmers can use that would runoff in to the water

21. How is water SAV important to water fowl?
Food
Migrating water fowl search the sediment for nutritious seeds, roots, and tubers that help fuel there journey
Shelter

22. Reflections
In the beginning of this workshop we were lectured and given straight up information, and while this was useful it wasn’t until we were put into our groups that we really started to learn this for ourselves, no longer where the answers just handed to us on a silver platter, we learned to work to each others strengths, and strengthen each others weaknesses. As a group we finished this project at a much higher level than any of us could have done alone.

23. Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all of the Burroughs Wellcome staff for their time and effort to make us better individuals in the science field and we would like to thank our teachers for giving us this opportunity.
Sincerely, The SAV Group.

24. Citation

25. citations
hurley, linda. field guide to the submerged aquatic vegetation of Chesapeake bay. 1 annapolis: U.S. fish and wildlife service, unkown
“seagrass.” Virginia DEQ. 1 September Virginia coastal zone management program. 26 jun 2008
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