How do Estuarine Turbidity Maxima Entrap Particles, Retain Zooplankton, and Promote Recruitment of Fish?

本研究是一项跨学科研究，旨在探讨切萨皮克湾河口最大浊度（ETM）的基本物理和生物过程。ETM区位于河口上游，靠近咸水和淡水的界面，已知会捕获细沉积物，并捕获或聚集浮游动物和早期生命阶段的鱼类。在切萨皮克湾，一个定义明确但了解甚少的ETM发生在海湾上游。据推测，ETM捕获了沉积物颗粒和浮游生物，这反过来又支持了浮游动物的生产和幼年溯河鱼类的生长和生存。这项研究将描述切萨皮克ETM的组成和评估过程，包括对海湾具有重要生态意义的沉积物和生物。ETM中的一个关键物种是桡足类动物Eurytemora affinis，它是溯河鱼类（条纹鲈、白鲈、黑鲈、鲱鱼）幼鱼和幼鱼的主要食物。

00-02529 and 00-02543This is an interdisciplinary study to investigate fundamental physical and biological processes in the Estuarine Turbidity Maximum (ETM) of Chesapeake Bay. ETM zones located in the upper reaches of estuaries, near the interface between salt and fresh water, are known to entrap fine sediments and to entrap or aggregate zooplankton and early-life stages of fish. In Chesapeake Bay, a well-defined but poorly understood ETM occurs in the upper Bay. It is hypothesized that the ETM entraps sediment particles and planktonic organisms which in turn support enhanced zooplankton production and growth and survival of young anadrornous fish. This research will characterize constituents and evaluate processes operating in the Chesapeake ETM, including sediments and organisms that are of major ecological significance in the Bay. A key species in the ETM is the copepod, Eurytemora affinis, which is a major food of larvae and juveniles of anadromous fishes (striped bass, white perch, shads, river herrings).