Human's Role In The Chesapeake Ecosystem

With more and more people coming into the world, it is difficult to regulate and mange all of the variables that include population growth. As populations rise, there is an increase in demand for food, resources, and also an increase in waste. While for many years it seemed okay, now researchers are finding that there are many cases where human waste is going to the wrong places causing disease, and many ecosystems to falter. This is happened across the globe, from China, to Brazil, and up to Washington D.C. in America. Directing our attention to Washington D.C., we can see how humans have disrupted the ecosystem and are now in jeopardy of not being able to restore it to it’s previous greatness. The Chesapeake Bay was once one of the liveliest …show more content…
One such species that play a enormous role in the Chesapeake ecosystem is sea grass. Much of the public is unaware of what benefits sea grass actually poses on the environment, but their role is to provide food for many aquatic creatures, serve as a home for these creatures, and help clear the water by filtering out nutrients and replacing them with oxygen. An oxygen-rich habitat is key for a thriving ecosystem. What is causing many patches of sea grass to vanish is cloudy water that prevents sunlight from reaching the bottom dwelling plants, thus creating no oxygen, and filtering little nutrients. The second species that has a huge affect on the environment are oysters. The role oysters play in the Bay ecosystem is their ability to filter water so efficiently. A century ago, “oysters by the billions once thrived in the Chesapeake. No more. Over fishing and parasitic diseases called MSX and dermo have all but ended the harvest” the numbers now are so low, some speculate if it could even be possible to resurrect their populations even marginally. With polluting waters, oysters must work overtime filtering through water, trying to find beneficial nutrients. Oysters can filter 50 gallons of water a day, and at a time when there were billions, the water truly must’ve been …show more content…
Holding true to his prior studies, Horton explains how crab populations have not been able to rise to it’s full potential because a lack of female blue crabs in the region. While there are sufficient numbers to hold a stable food source, fisheries cannot continuously fish there as the numbers could deplete rapidly which is why it is used as a fallback for many companies. In 1993, scientists were seemingly ready to accept that they have finally reached a ‘stasis point’ where the ecosystem is now able to thriving again, and on the rise. While we did see a rise in crab populations and somewhat with oysters, in 2005, the records indicate that there is much more that can and should be