Forests cover about 58 percent of the watershed, or 24 million acres, and perform vital functions that benefit wildlife, water and air quality like creating habitat, filtering pollution and providing shade.
Wetlands refer collectively to marshes, swamps, bogs and similar areas found between dry land and water along the edges of streams, rivers, lakes and coastlines. They are the transitional link between the water and the land.
The Bay's rivers, along with the hundreds of thousands of creeks and streams that feed them, provide fresh water to the Bay and necessary habitat for many aquatic species.
Along the Bay's shoreline is a zone of incredible biological activity: the shallows. Defined as the area from the shoreline to a depth of about 10 feet, shallow waters support a vast assortment of life.
Tidal marshes of the shallows are border habitats that connect shorelines to forests and wetlands. Like wetlands and underwater bay grass beds, tidal marshes provide food and shelter for numerous aquatic species.
An aquatic reef is a solid, three-dimensional, highly structured ecological community with oysters as its dominant species. Reefs provide vital habitat for Bay species such as finfish, shellfish and invertebrates.
Open water is the habitat beyond the shoreline and shallow waters of the Bay. The Bay's open waters are home to dense communities of pelagic fish and invertebrates, as well as several bird species.