IAN Seminar Series

There have been numerous indicators that there has been progress in improving the water quality indicators for the Chesapeake Bay system. Less clear, are the effects of these water quality improvements on the living resources of this system, or the scale of those effects in comparison to other stressors like changing water temperatures in this region. Similarly, the cumulative effects of multiple, simultaneous stressors in combination with the water quality improvements are difficult to estimate, and there are relatively few tools available with which to accomplish this task. One such tool is an"end-to- end" or "full-system" modeling approach called "Atlantis". The Chesapeake Atlantis Model (CAM) is a deterministic, biogeophysical, production simulation model of the Chesapeake system, designed to provide strategic information on the trade-offs of different management choices, e.g., targeted restoration, ongoing habitat loss due to sea level rise and shoreline hardening, water quality improvement, etc. The spa