Arlington, Virginia -- Environment &

Arlington, Virginia -- Environment & Ecology Situated across the Potomac River from the nation's capitol, and close to the sprawling Chesapeake Bay, Arlington, Virginia is proud of its natural history heritage and boasts many ecological places and environmental venues that are outstanding and are being monitored, maintained and preserved. Better known for the Pentagon, the Arlington National Cemetery, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the U.S.

Marine War Memorial and its proximity to Washington D.C., Arlington is in fact a dynamic destination for outdoor activities, hiking, birding, and many other activities related to the natural world. Arlington County is 25.9 square miles in size and averages 8,407 people per square mile. Ecologies and Environments in Arlington -- While not directly abutting the bay, Arlington is part of the enormous Chesapeake Bay Watershed, which is the largest and the most diverse estuary in North America, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Bay is extremely valuable to Arlington, Arlington County, the state or Maryland and other nearby regions and states, including Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay is 200 miles long and features more than 11,000 miles of "tidal shoreline, and is fed by 100,000 creeks, streams and rivers," the EPA documents explain. The entire watershed of the Chesapeake Bay encompasses 64,000 square miles. The economic benefits of the Bay to the nearby population, including Arlington, add up to more than $33 billion annually, the EPA.

Flowing right past Arlington and into the Chesapeake Bay is the Potomac River, offering relaxation, recreation, fishing, and historical linkages with the founding of the United States. One well-known historical site on the Potomac ecology is the Fort C.F. Smith Park, right on the river that offers 19 acres with meadows, forests, and gardens. The park is located at the juncture between the "physiographic provinces of the Piedmont and Coastal Plain," featuring a diversity of wildlife, habitats, and exotic tree species" (www.Arlingtonva.us).

Another park along the Potomac ecology is the Potomac Overlook Regional Park, 70 acres of trails, gardens, and woodlands. Factors that distinguish Arlington's local ecology and environment -- Arlington has numerous forested areas in the midst of a thriving, bustling metropolis.

Gulf Branch Park (5.4 acres of hardwood forest); Donaldson Run Park (30.22 acres, hardwood, oak, hickory forest); Windy Run Park (7.5 acres, oak forest); Glencarlyn Park (2.6 acres acidic oak hickory forest); Long Branch / Glencarlyn Park (49.67 acres, oak hickory forest); Arlington Forest Park (1 acre); and Barcroft Park (24 acres, wetlands, 23 springs, it is the most ecologically significant natural site owned by Arlington County) (Natural Resources Management Plan).

Arlington is presently taking an inventory of its large trees, and now has identified 53 that are "champions of Arlington" (enormous trees up to 300 years of age) and 32 that are "state champions" (also very large, protected trees). Arlington County plants over 1,200 trees a year. How have human activities affected the ecosystems in and around Arlington? First, the Chesapeake Bay is polluted to the point of being environmentally stressed; culprits include agriculture runoff (animal waste), city wastewater treatment plants, and airborne pollutants, among other polluting sources.

Environment Virginia's 2009 report states, "After 25 years of government efforts, the bay is still dangerously sick." The report claims that the soft shell clam and oyster fisheries "have collapsed" and the commercial harvest of striped bass is now restricted to protect the survival of that species (Virginia Environment).

In the last 30 years, according to the Executive Summary of the Arlington "Urban Forest Master Plan" (UFMP) Arlington County has lost "a significant amount of acreage with heavy tree cover"; this has had "a dramatic effect on the overall canopy coverage." Of the 16,500 acres of forests more than 3,000 acres have been "converted from heavy tree cover of over 50% to low tree cover of less than 20%" (UFMP).

How might global warming affect local ecosystems in and around Arlington? The rising level of the Atlantic Ocean is considered a major risk in terms of global warming. Already the rising waters have submerged several islands in the Chesapeake Bay. "The region's coastal habitats and the fish and wildlife that depend on them are at great risk," according to a report by the National Wildlife Federation (2008). Indeed, the Chesapeake Bay is among the most "vulnerable to sea-level rise" of all coastal regions in the U.S.

As the sea levels rise coastal marshes become saltwater marshes; in fact over 161,000 acres of brackish marsh and 29,000 acres of tidal swamp would be created by a rise in the sea level of two feet; this would mean that over 167,000 acres of undeveloped dry land near to Arlington would be "lost or replaced with wetlands," the NWF explains. Meantime, "hundreds of species of fish, invertebrates, birds and other wildlife are at risk from sea-level rise in the bay.

Relative to other parts of the world would your local ecosystems be affected more or less? There is the possibility that the Arlington Virginia and surrounding areas could be greatly affected by Global Warming, perhaps more so than.