Tides of Resilience: Eelgrass- Cape Cod’s Silent Warriors

One of the most pressing concerns facing the current health of Cape Cod waterways is the impact of fertilizer runoff from agricultural and residential sources. Fertilizer runoff can cause eutrophication, which is the excessive growth of algae and other aquatic plants due to high levels of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, in the water. Eutrophication can harm the water quality, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning of waterways by reducing dissolved oxygen, blocking sunlight, producing toxins, and altering food webs.

Adopting best management practices for fertilizer application, such as using organic or slow-release fertilizers, applying only the amount needed, avoiding fertilizing before rain events, and creating buffer zones between fertilized areas and waterways. These practices can reduce the amount of nutrients that are washed off into streams and rivers.

Educating the public about the causes and consequences of eutrophication and how to prevent it. This can be done through outreach campaigns, signage, posters, or infographics that highlight the key messages and actions to protect Cape Cod waterways from nutrient pollution.

Supporting water quality monitoring programs, such as those conducted by Friends of Chatham Waterways (FCW), to assess the nutrient levels and ecological health of Chatham Waterways. These programs can provide valuable data and information for identifying problem areas, evaluating management strategies, and raising public awareness.

Eelgrass Restoration: GIS-Driven Site Selection for Eutrophication Mitigation

GIS can be a useful tool to predict fertilizer runoff points and areas of potential eutrophication in waterways. GIS can integrate spatial data from various sources, such as land use, soil type, topography, precipitation, and water quality, to create maps and models that identify the sources, pathways, and impacts of nutrient runoff. GIS can also help visualize the spatial patterns and trends of eutrophication and evaluate the effectiveness of different management scenarios.

GIS can be used to evaluate ecological impacts. One could use GIS to map the distribution and abundance of eelgrass in marine estuaries. Eelgrass is an important habitat for many aquatic species and an indicator of water quality. By comparing eelgrass maps over time with nutrient runoff data, one could assess how eutrophication affects eelgrass growth and survival. Areas with a high density of eelgrass may indicate a previous point of nutrient drop-off, with this indication, researchers can relocate segments of the eelgrass populations to where biofilters, such as eelgrass, have not been able to become established.

In conclusion, the restoration and strategic relocation of eelgrass in Cape Cod’s waterways offer a beacon of hope for reversing the detrimental effects of eutrophication. These resilient plants are not only hypothesized to thrive on excess nutrients but also to restore the vital oxygen levels in the aquatic environment.

Addressing fertilizer runoff is imperative to maintain the health of these waters. The unchecked runoff leads to nutrient overload, triggering algal blooms that compromise water quality, disrupt biodiversity, and impair ecosystem functions.