View allAll Photos Tagged SDG14
This photo, taken at the Horn Point Oyster Hatchery in Cambridge, Maryland, on October 4th at 11:53 AM, depicts a section of the oyster hatchery that plays a critical role in the restoration of oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay. The visible oyster shells and hatchery equipment in the image highlight efforts to support UN SDG 14: Life Below Water, which focuses on conserving and sustainably using oceans, seas, and marine resources. The ecological concept evident in this image is restoration ecology, specifically aquaculture and oyster reef restoration. Oysters provide essential ecosystem services: they filter water, improve water quality, and create habitat for other marine species. Over the past decade, Horn Point's spawning oysters have contributed over one billion oyster spat to the Chesapeake Bay, directly addressing the challenge of biodiversity loss and helping to counteract the decline of natural oyster populations. The connection between this ecological effort and SDG 14 lies in how oyster hatcheries help to restore marine ecosystems by replenishing oyster populations that have been decimated by overharvesting, pollution, and disease. Healthy oyster populations are critical to improving water quality in the Bay and maintaining the overall health of marine ecosystems. The hatchery exemplifies how restoration projects can make tangible impacts on both marine biodiversity and water resource management, key goals of SDG 14.
You can check out more about the Horn Point Oyster Hatchery at their website:
This is a photo I took of lily pads and turtles at Lake Artemesia on September 3rd. This photo applies to the Below Water sustainable development goal because it features issues relating to plastic pollution, biodiversity, climate change, and overfishing. The water lilies in the lake are important to the turtles because they provide food and cover. The snapping turtle is the largest turtle in this image, but it is difficult to see because it is partially covered by lily pads, and this is because it uses the lily pads to catch food.
Turtles are key to balancing the food chain. They keep levels of seagrass under control by consuming it, which in turn makes the seagrass more productive and nutrient-dense, as well as preventing the grass from impeding water flow. The healthy seagrasses, in turn, provide habitats, nutrients, and oxygen. In lakes like Artemesia, turtles remove sources of harmful bacteria by eating dead organisms and cycling nutrients. Since turtles travel between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, they carry seeds, nutrients, and plant fertilizers from one habitat to another, thus increasing biodiversity and production. Turtles are also a food source for many organisms, so their absence would be devastating to the ecosystem. The water lilies in the lake are important to the turtles because they provide food and cover. The snapping turtle is the largest turtle in this image, but it is difficult to see because it is partially covered by lily pads, and this is because it uses the lily pads to catch food.
The population of turtles is being threatened due to pollution, habitat destruction, overexploitation for their shells and food, and climate change. Our aquatic ecosystems are in danger, and the SDG 14 states that we should take action to clean the bays and stop illegal fishing. If we use the oceans sustainably and conserve life there, biodiversity will flourish and keep itself in check.
Lovich, J.E., Ennen, J.R., Agha, M., Gibbons, J.W. “Where Have All the Turtles Gone, and Why Does It Matter?” BioScience, Volume 68, Issue 10, October 2018, Pages 771–781, doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy095.
I was visiting the Chesapeake Bay for the first time last month when I saw these two horseshoe crabs swimming near the shore. This connects to UN SDG number 14, Life Below Water which aims to "conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development". A sign of a sustainable habitat is the life that inhabits it. The existence of this marine life is a sign of the health of this section of the Bay. For example, this section of the Bay has enough dissolved O2 for these horseshoe crabs to live. I was especially excited to see horseshoe crabs because they are the only living species in the order Xiphosura. They were able to outcompete their predators through the millennia (predating the dinosaurs), have resisted drastic evolution, and have survived disturbances of varying magnitudes. This proves their amazing ecological stability (stability, resistance, recovery, and resilience). An interesting classification is that Horseshoe Crabs are not actually crabs (crustaceans) but, as arthropods, are instead more closely related to arachnids.
This photo was taken on the paint branch trail in College Park, MD. It depicts fish within the water of the creek running through the trail. This exhibits the “Life Under Water” SDG. The ecological concept this exhibits is habit and niche. This creek is the habitat for these fish and their niche most likely includes consuming microorganisms within the water and helping keep it clean. The way the ecological concept and SDG connect is because the ecosystem under the water is very complex. This is the habitat of the fish and they play a very important role, as do all organism in an ecosystem, in sustaining this habitat.
"I’d choose to protect rivers and oceans. Because there's dirty water everywhere. Then when they get the fish out of the water maybe the fish will not taste good, or maybe they will all be gone! And then how do we eat?”
Photo of an Oyster Reservation at University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. This is where previous oyster shells are used for recycling. It ensures a suitable habitat that can be available for future generations of oysters. Oyster shells are very vital, as they can be left for spat which are baby oysters that can grow in the shell they chosen. These oyster shells are washed and set outside to cure for many months before they can be used as habitats for the next generation. They also provide habits for other aquatic organisms such as crabs, fish, mussels, barnacles, eels, etc. This supports UN sustainable development Goal 14: Life below Water. As these oyster shell will be reused and recycle, a forever cycle to continue the oyster population.
This is an image of Professor Trash Wheel in the Baltimore Harbor taken on Oct 18. It sits on the river's opening that runs under Canton into the harbor to collect trash and can even pick up oil slicks from the water. It uses solar and river currents to power a conveyor belt that moves the trash collected from the river, into a dumpster. Where it is then sorted and properly disposed of, this is an example of UN SDG 14: Life below water, this is because the trash wheel collects trash, debris, and other organic matter from entering the bay. This protects the bay from excess nutrients from entering creating damage to marine life. It also allows the city to save money on water sanitation, and use a free energy resource that has much fewer environmental drawbacks. This would make the water wheels less effective as their goal is to protect our natural waterways. The ecological concept displayed here is also protecting our natural nutrient cycle. By limiting debris, and organic matter from making its way into the Chesapeake Bay. The debris would damage the bay and potentially rot in the bay adding excess nutrients that would cause a eutrophic event harming the Bay's ecosystem.
I took this photo during my Sustainable Agriculture class field trip (October 5th in Prince George’s County, Maryland). This photo depicts a cow herd grazing at Clagett Farm, a sustainability-oriented farm owned by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The cows here are managed with management-intensive grazing, a more sustainable method of raising cows as opposed to continual grazing or feedlots. At Clagett Farm, the cows are rotated between different areas of the field, with electric fences ensuring they stay within the designated sections. The cows graze the section they are limited to, mowing the grass and supplying the soil nutrients from their manure. The farm then removes this pastureland and uses it to grow their crops. Procuring nutrients via manure is a more sustainable alternative to chemical fertilizers, which contribute to nutrient pollution. Rotating the cows is essential to prevent overgrazing, which can cause environmental issues like desertification and erosion. Also, keeping the cows in one area too long can result in excessive manure buildup. By controlling where and when the cows graze, the farm prevents the negative ecological effects typically associated with grazing animals (Cows tend to overgraze their preferred feeding areas if left unmanaged). Rotational grazing is just one of the many ways Clagett Farms practices regenerative agriculture. The farm’s program manager explained to our class that the idea of this practice is to leave land better than it started. Due to decades of rotational grazing, the pasture’s soil health has significantly improved.
The photo demonstrates the ecological concept of nutrient cycling. Nutrient cycling is the process by which “energy and matter are transferred between living organisms and non-living parts of the environment” (Crandall Park Trees). In this image, cows input nutrients into the soil via their manure, which can then be used by plants. Grazing cattle excrete most of their ingested nutrients in the form of feces and urine, with 70%–90% of the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium ingested being recovered in their excrement (Silveira et al., 2019). As a result, animal excrement is an important source of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for forage crops. When the farm removes this land to grow crops, another step of the nutrient cycle takes place where plants uptake these nutrients through their root systems.
UN SDG 14-Life Below Water is involved in the image. Although this goal may seem unrelated to a herd of grows grazing on land, this UN goal is the driving force behind why the cows are managed this way. As mentioned previously, this farm is owned by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The CBF was formed in the 60s to protect the bay, with their website describing their mission as “We fight for effective, science-based solutions to the pollution degrading the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams” (Chesapeake Bay Foundation). In the 1960s and 1970s, the Chesapeake Bay was in far worse condition than it is today, containing a marine “dead zone” that was depleted of oxygen to the point where marine life could not survive. This whole phenomenon reflects the ecological concept of nutrient cycling. Conventional agriculture utilizes fertilizers to supply plants with nutrients, meaning runoff from these farms contains these excess nutrients. When the runoff ultimately ends up in the Chesapeake Bay, high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus cause excessive algal growth. Algal blooms block sunlight and consume oxygen, creating hypoxic dead zones where underwater life cannot survive (Chesapeake Bay Foundation). Farmers, particularly Pennsylvanian farmers, have historically been blamed for eutrophication in the bay. This is because the Susquehanna River is the bay’s largest contributor of nitrogen, and second-largest contributor of phosphorus, meaning it is critical that nutrient pollution in this waterway be avoided (Torres, 2024). With agriculture being the greatest source of pollution in the bay, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation promotes regenerative agriculture to farmers as part of their efforts to protect the bay’s marine life. Clagett Farm’s use of rotational grazing as an alternative to fertilizer application reduces nutrient runoff and water pollution. It is just one of the many sustainable alternatives to traditional farming practices they promote. Therefore, the goal behind this image embodies SDG 14’s targets, including reducing marine pollution, protecting and restoring ecosystems, and conserving coastal and marine areas. More information about Clagett Farm can be found here: www.clagettcsasales.org/
Sources:
mdocs.skidmore.edu/crandallparktrees/ecosystem/nutrient-c...
edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/SS578
www.farmprogress.com/commentary/sickly-chesapeake-bay-get...
This photo was taken at the end of November and it shows restoration of Paint Branch Creek right next to lot 9b on the UMD campus. From what I saw over the course of about a month, during the restoration they removed a lot of old trees and vegetation that had been on the banks, drained the creek, cleaned up trash that had polluted the creek, and then reconstructed the banks and covered them to prevent erosion. It also appears that they planted some vegetation and removed all the equipment that had been there to keep the stream level very low during construction. These restorations are important, especially in an urbanized area like UMD because they help to restore riparian zones that were previously taken out and help with surface runoff, reduction of erosion, water filtration, reduction in impervious surfaces, and reduction in flooding. Information on previous restoration projects at UMD can be found in the link below.
This photo connects to SDG 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. The restoration of creeks and rivers helps ensure that the water that reaches the Chesapeake Bay contains fewer pollutants and sediment. Restored streams help, for example, reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that may end up in the bay since they can filter and attenuate these pollutants, which in turn means that there will be fewer algae blooms that can cause dead zones in the bay. Dead zones are areas where there is little or no oxygen in the water, so species can no longer survive and reducing them will help protect biodiversity. Furthermore, reducing the amount of sediment that ends up in the bay will mean fewer submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) are getting buried, allowing for these ecosystems to be protected and exist for species that require them for protection, habitat, and/or reproduction. Restoration of streams also overall helps contribute to the regional goals and policies under the Chesapeake Bay Program to protect the bay. Paint Branch Creek is part of the Anacostia watershed which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay and is a part of the Chesapeake watershed, therefore, protecting the tributaries that feed into the bay is incredibly important to ensure the health of the species living there and the quality of the water. Basic information on the Chesapeake Bay watershed can be found in the second link below.
An ecological concept this connects to is watershed ecology and overall the importance of considering the entire watershed when trying to fix issues happening in the Chesapeake Bay, for example. A watershed is an area that all drains out to a single point, in this case, the Chesapeake Bay. Watershed ecology looks at the interconnectedness of streams, wetlands, and terrestrial areas and how they all contribute and impact the entire watershed. Finally, stream restoration connects to all of this because it demonstrates that restoring the different parts throughout the watershed rather than focusing on just the bay, is important to maintain a healthy ecosystem. Making efforts in restoring tributaries and areas that may not be exactly on the bay help to prevent pollutants that come from the six states that are a part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed from ending up in the bay. As previously mentioned, restored streams, for example, can help attenuate and filter some of these pollutants out, preventing them from ever reaching the bay. Therefore the efforts to restore Paint Branch Creek benefit both UMD and the Chesapeake Bay as a whole.
sustainability.umd.edu/topics/water-initiatives#:~:text=T...
Erosion not just an issue for terrestrial ecosystems. Soil eroded by rainfall may eventually find its way into creeks, rivers, and oceans, making them turbid. Very turbid water kills submerged aquatic vegetation, which is a source of oxygen, food, and shelter for other aquatic organisms.
The UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 calls for protecting life in water. While its primary focus is on the ocean, it is also important to protect and restore local aquatic ecosystems. The health of water upstream will affect the health of water downstream– no clean oceans with dirty rivers.
This is where grassed swales come in. Above is a grassed swale outside the Xfinity Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, on September 12, 2023. Topographically it is located at the top of a hill, and it is designed to direct runoff from off-image pavement into the water inlet.
Grassed swales can slow runoff, filter it, and prevent erosion. They can lessen the amount of sediments (and pollutants) that enter into water via runoff. Grassed swales are most able to control runoff when used in conjunction with rain gardens and ecological detention tanks, which drastically reduce runoff(1). The swale shown is a grassed channel, the simplest type of grassed swale, and generally the least effective at trapping pollutants. A larger and more effective type of grassed swale is a dry swale. Dry swales have a fabricated soil bed with a very high water infiltration rate (unless the native soil already has a high enough infiltration rate), and they may also have a pipe underdrain system to take the stormwater elsewhere(2).
(1)Xie, C.; Wang, Z.; Yu, B.; Che, S. Design and Evaluation of Green Space In Situ Rainwater Regulation and Storage Systems for Combating Extreme Rainfall Events: Design of Shanghai Gongkang Green Space to Adapt to Climate Change. Land 2022, 11, 777. doi.org/10.3390/land11060777
(2)NPDES: Stormwater Best Management Practice, Grassed Swales. www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-11/bmp-grassed-sw... (accessed September 15, 2023).
Another UN SDG I have observed on campus is the use of a series of step pools installed upon campus creek as photographed here between route 193 and parking lot 2a at 2:30 this afternoon on October 30th 2023 for this post. These step pools are designed to slow water movement in the creek to reduce sediment loss, mitigate pollutants that would otherwise empty into the Chesapeake Bay. The step pools are also designed to stabilize the banks and raise the creek bed to allow water to flow into the natural wooded flood plains during heavy rainfall. This addition of adding step pools to the creek was a stream restoration process called regenerative stream conveyance. Phase one of this project was completed in 2019 and repaired 3000 feet of the creek, phase two planes to restore the remaining 2300 feet of creek in the future. This fulfills UN SDG # 14 “Life Below Water” as the stream restoration is helping bring back a less polluted healthier environment for the aquatic organisms in campus creek as well as cutting back on pollutants that are entering the Chesapeake Bay and reducing pollutant harm to watershed organisms downstream from campus.
This picture was taken October 4th at the Horn Point Oyster Hatchery located on the Choptank River in Cambridge, MD. I was able to visit this facility through a field trip for my ecosystem health class. At this hatchery, oysters are bred and then the offspring are raised for both commerical hatcheries and for conservation efforts within the Chesapeake Bay. This image depicts one of the many large tanks where the oysters are kept once they attach to shells and become spat. They are left in these tanks to grow until they are then transferred to either a commerical hatchery or a designated area of the Bay.
This image relates to SDG 14, life below water. This goal focuses on the conservation and sustainability of oceans and marine resources. Oysters help the Bay due to their high capacity to filter and purify water. However, overfishing and other human activities have resulted in massive declines in oyster populations over the years. Now, it is crucial to have conservation efforts such as those done by Horn Point Oyster Hatchery to ensure that populations are maintained, expanded, and supported. These efforts will help maintain and improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
One ecological concept that this image relates to is the idea of ecological niches. The niche of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay is very important for the health of the Bay and the survival of other species. As mentioned prior, oysters provide good water filtration. Since they are immobile once they grow up, they are filter feeders. They remove excess nutrients and sediments from the water which improve the overall water quality. Additionally, the hard, rough bottom created by oyster reefs provides a home for organisms such as mussels and crabs. Oysters are considered a keystone species due to the very large and important effect that they have on their ecosystem.
This photo was taken at a seafood restaurant in Annapolis, MD, and shows two blue crabs in a basin of water being pumped from the nearby river. Blue crabs are a famous Maryland food and are eaten by a lot of people. This obviously affects the species abundance, as the more crabs people harvest to sell and eat the less will remain in the ecosystem. To prevent overfishing---or in this case, overcrabbing--- regulations are in place including having a size limit on which crabs it is legal to catch and which ones need to be thrown back. This helps to prevent the blue crab population from shrinking too severely to the point where it disrupts the surrounding ecosystem, the Chesapeake Bay. Therefore, this picture of crabs being kept at a restaurant after having been caught and removed from the wild connects to the ecological concept of species abundance, which is linked to crabbing and crabbing regulations.
This picture also relates strongly to the Sustainable Development Goal of Life Below Water. Obviously, blue crabs are marine organisms, but less obvious connections exist as well. In order to reach the goal of marine sustainability, it is necessary to have good regulations in place to protect the populations of marine organisms such as the blue crab. The species abundance of marine organisms such as the blue crab that are important to sustaining the health of a marine ecosystem are critical to and interconnected with the Sustainable Development Goal of Life Below Water, and both of these things are represented by this photo.
This is a photo of the Chesapeake Bay Advocacy Canoe Trip. The program gives students the opportunity to learn about why protecting the Chespaeake Bay is crucial by hosting advocacy activities on campus and making students attend an outdoor education event on the bay. On the canoe trip we measured water quality, observed the fauna surrounding the bay, and using nets to observe aquatic macroinvertebrates. The relevant ecological concept would be clean water because we measured water quality. The relevant UN sustainability development goal be #14: life below water, because we observed macroinvertebrates with nets. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has helped many people, including myself, and make a huge difference on the health of the Chesapeake Bay water & critters.
This marker near the Bioscience Research Building's loading dock indicates that dumping waste down this drain is prohibited. The topography of the region ensures that most of the water and dissolved substances disposed here will eventually enter the Chesapeake Bay. Since pollutants that originate here poses a threat to ecosystems in the bay and adjacent rivers, preventing their spread supports the UN's fourteenth SD goal.
This photo, taken in June 2025 at Indian River Beach in Delaware, shows a restored dune and beach system built using sand dredged from the nearby inlet. The project supports UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water, which focuses on protecting marine ecosystems. By rebuilding dunes and planting native grasses, the restoration helps prevent erosion and creates safe habitats for fish, shellfish, and other coastal wildlife. Screening the dredged sand for harmful materials also ensures the area is safe for both people and marine life.
The restoration is part of a larger effort in watershed management, which looks at how land and water systems work together. Healthy dunes act like natural filters, improving water quality and reducing pollution that flows into the ocean. The dredging also supports a sand bypass system that mimics natural sediment movement, helping protect nearby infrastructure and ecosystems. This project shows how smart coastal planning can benefit both communities and the environment.
This photo is the sunset view of Potomac River I took on Sunday 10/13/2024. I see the Potomac River links to the Ecological Sustainability Goal 14: Life Below Water. This ESG emphasizes the protection and marine and freshwater habitats. The conservation and sustainability of ocean, seas and marine resources are essential for future sustainable development.
This picture with its Ecological Sustainability Goal 14 of Life Below Water is related to the ecological concept of habitat sustainability. The health of the Potomac River is closely tied to the health of the ecosystems within the river. This concept highlights the importance of maintaining the natural conditions of a habitat to support species survival and overall stability of the ecosystem. The efforts to reduce pollution and restore wetlands along the Potomac river align with SDG 14 by preserving vital breeding and feeding grounds for fish, mollusks, and other aquatic life, thereby enhancing biodiversity and ensuring sustainable use of freshwater resources.
This image, taken October 17th, 2024, is of a soil profile in Rhode Island. This Duraquod was found in the middle of a recognized wetland, delineated for the legal protection of the space. Duraquods such as these form in acidic and moist environments. In terms of state factors, this soil is acidic due to the acidic crystalline parent material and the above Northeastern vegetation including conifers (that drop needles which acidify the soil). In terms of climate and relief, the depressional area collects high seasonal rainfall, allowing for the mobilization of soil nutrients and metals. Given that this soil formed over a few thousand years (and did not appear to be heavily disturbed by human activity), the five state factors created the right environment for this duraquod to form (1).
Aside from this specific profile is that often unique profiles such as these form in ecologically diverse communities. In this specific instance, this duraquod formed in a wetland, which as we passed through was marked with pink tape to delineate the boundaries of the wetland. Protection of these wetland areas, especially in regions surrounding bays (Rhode Island and Narragansett, or think Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay closer to home), is important for the reduction of pollution and protection of waterways from nutrient runoff. Wetlands play a crucial role in the collection and supply of groundwater to local rivers and streams, that often feed into bays or directly into the oceans. By protecting wetlands, we can ensure a clean and steady supply of water to tributaries, which protects aquatic life in bays and oceans from pollution and eutrophication. This protection of wetlands aligns with UNSDG14: Life Under Water, specifically targets 1 and 2 which deal with the reduction of nutrient and marine pollution as well as the protection of marine and coastal ecosystems (2).
(1) For more on Duraquods, the Illustrated Keys To Soil Taxonomy explains them fairly well: www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/Illustrated...
(2) UNSDG14 Targets & Indicators: sdgs.un.org/goals/goal14#targets_and_indicators
Life Below Water (SDG 14): The river in the photo is a habitat for aquatic life. Clean and healthy water bodies are crucial for maintaining biodiversity and supporting life below water.
Life on Land (SDG 15): The lush greenery and forested hills in the background represent the importance of protecting terrestrial ecosystems. Forests provide habitat for wildlife, contribute to climate regulation, and support biodiversity.
Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6): The presence of a clean and flowing river emphasizes the need for maintaining clean water sources. Ensuring water quality is essential for health, agriculture, and overall ecosystem health.
Climate Action (SDG 13): Natural landscapes, including forests and rivers, play a critical role in mitigating climate change. They act as carbon sinks and help in regulating the climate.
#UMD #ecology #enst360, #SDG15, #SDG6, #SDG14, Su24, image1
I took this picture at Lake Artemisia. For this picture I am looking at life below water. In this picture, there is aquatic vegetation including lily pads, which support a diverse food web and benefit life below the surface. They can host algae and other organisms. This is vital for the operation of the underwater ecosystem. For example the life they support can become food for predators, creating a complex web of interactions. There is also supported oxygenation of water through these aquatic plants, as well as water filtration.
This photo showcases goal #14: life below water. I took this photo on the eastern shore, in Bishopville last week during a car ride. I noticed while riding along the road, that some parts were closer to the water than others (photographed is a section with a further distance to the water than other sections). Having a larger distance from the water is beneficial to the ecosystem as it reduces the amount of runoff and pollution from the road. The pollution could include leaking liquids from cars, like gas or coolant, there could also be microscopic amounts of rubber from the tires entering the water, and much more. All of this pollution is incredibly harmful to the ecosystem above and below water as it can cause illnesses and death among the animals living in that habitat which leaves the animals above water with less food resources. Bishopville also has a lot of agricultural land, which commonly contributes pollution to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, so any areas where pollution and runoff can be decreased, the better.
🌿 July 26, 2025 – #MangroveDay
Theme: "Protecting Wetlands for Our Future"
Mangroves protect coasts, store carbon, support rural livelihoods, and power resilient agri-food systems.
🌊🌱🐟 Let’s act for people and planet.
#SDG13 #SDG14 #AgriFoodSystems #ClimateAction #BlueCarbon #NatureBasedSolutions