VCU Rice Center Receives Grant to Study Predators and Prey in the Chesapeake Bay

By Anne Buckley

The Virginia Commonwealth University Rice Center has received a federal grant to study the predator and prey interactions of fish-eating birds and fishery resources in the Chesapeake Bay and the James River.

The grant, which is expected to total nearly $360,000 over three years, is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Chesapeake Bay Office and will support research on the complex ecological relationships among increasingly abundant avian predators and economically important fishery resources.  

"We plan to quantify and incorporate into ecosystem models the impact that fish-eating birds, and the competition among them for fish prey, has on populations of estuarine and riverine fishes," said Greg Garman, associate professor in the Department of Biology and director of VCU Life Sciences' Center for Environmental Studies. "The research also will evaluate the potential role of fishery population dynamics in regulating populations of bird species that are of national conservation concern."

The results of the research will allow natural resource managers to more effectively track and forecast responses of avian communities and fish stocks to management and restoration policies and efforts, and will contribute substantially to the overall accuracy of Chesapeake Bay ecosystem models, Garman said.

The research will be conducted primarily at the VCU Rice Center, an ecologically rich, 343-acre parcel of land located on the north bank of the tidal James River, southeast of Richmond that VCU Life Sciences uses for research, education and outreach activities. This section of the river supports significant populations of fish-eating birds and migratory fishes and has been the focus of recent conservation efforts by state and federal biologists.   

VCU researchers will be working with scientists from the College of William and Mary's Center for Conservation Biology and the University of Virginia's Department of Environmental Sciences. Scientists will study interactions among several species, including osprey, bald eagles, Atlantic menhaden and American shad.

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