User:Brooklynbiology/Jamaica Bay

Ecology
The location of Jamaica Bay, combined with its rich food resources, make it an important habitat for both plants and animals. This geographic location also provides valuable feeding habitat to marine and estuarine species migrating between the New York Bight and the Hudson River and Raritan River estuaries, and to a diverse community of migratory birds and insects that use the Bay for refueling during transit between summer breeding and overwintering grounds. While the resident wildlife of Jamaica Bay are poorly studied, survey data indicate that Jamaica Bay and the Rockaways support seasonal or year-round populations of at least 325 bird species, more than 100 species of fish, and more than 80 butterfly species.

Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay
In 2012, the City of New York and the National Parks Service signed an agreement to jointly manage Jamaica Bay and restore its parkland and greenspaces. Hurricane Sandy hit the city in force in October 2012, causing billions of dollars of damage, and inundating coastal regions, including Jamaica Bay, with a storm surge estimated at close to 2.5 meters. The impact of Hurricane Sandy revealed the vulnerability of the city's coastal infrastructure to storm surges, and with projections suggesting that the frequency of such storms is likely to increase over the coming century, New York City released "A Stronger, More Resilient New York" in June 2013, an extensive report outlining a plan to reinforce and rebuild NYC infrastructure in order to create a city better able to withstand future storms. Later that year, Mayor Bloomberg, together with the then Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, announced the establishment of the Jamaica Bay Science and Resilience Institute, a multidisciplinary consortium of academic, governmental and community partners coordinated by the City University of New York. The Institute, subsequently renamed the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay (SRIJB), is currently housed at Brooklyn College, but will be relocating to a permanent home at Floyd Bennett Field within the next 3 years..