Eutrophication

An Introduction
The word Trophi in Greek means food or nutrient, whereas the words oligo, meso, eu and hyper stand respectively for rare, moderate, abundant and excessive. Therefore, the words oligotrophic, mesotrophic, eutrophic and hypertrophic have been used by biologists to describe the various nutritional statuses of a marine or fresh water environment. These words are used to describe the potentially available quantitative biomass. Eutrophication is caused by the decrease of an ecosystem with chemical nutrients, typically compounds containing nitrogen or phosphorus. It may occur on land or in the water. Eutrophication is frequently a result of nutrient pollution such as the release of sewage effluent into natural waters (rivers or coasts) although it may occur naturally in situations where nutrients accumulate (e.g. depositional environments) or where they flow into systems on an ephemeral basis (e.g. intermittent upwelling in coastal systems). Eutrophication generally promotes excessive plant growth and decay, favors certain weedy species over others, and is likely to cause severe reductions in water quality. In aquatic environments, enhanced growth of choking aquatic vegetation or phytoplankton (that is, an algal bloom) disrupts normal functioning of the ecosystem, causing a variety of problems. Human society is impacted as well: eutrophication decreases the resource value of rivers, lakes, and estuaries such that recreation, fishing, hunting, and aesthetic enjoyment are hindered. Health-related problems can occur where eutrophic conditions interfere with drinking water treatment. Although traditionally thought of as enrichment of aquatic systems by addition of fertilizers into lakes, bays, or other semi-enclosed waters (even slow-moving rivers), terrestrial ecosystems are subject to similarly adverse impacts. Increased content of nitrates in soil frequently leads to undesirable changes in vegetation composition and many plant species are endangered as a result of eutrophication in terrestric ecosystems, e.g. majority of orchid species in Europe. Ecosystems (like some meadows, forests and bogs that are characterized by low nutrient content and species-rich, slowly growing vegetation adapted to lower nutrient levels) are overgrown by faster growing and more competitive species-poor vegetation, like tall grasses, that can take advantage of unnaturally elevated nitrogen level and the area may be changed beyond recognition and vulnerable species may be lost. Eg. species-rich fens are overtaken by reed or reedgrass species, spectacular forest undergrowth affected by run-off from nearby fertilized field is turned into a thick nettle and bramble shrub.

Eutrophication was recognized as a pollution problem in European and North American lakes and reservoirs in the mid-20th century. Since then, it has become more widespread. Surveys showed that 54% of lakes in Asia are eutrophic; in Europe, 53%; in North America, 48%; in South America, 41%; and in Africa, 28%.

Concept of Eutrophication
Eutrophication is apparent as increased turbidity in the northern part of the Caspian Sea, imaged from orbit. Eutrophication can be a natural process in lakes, as they fill in through geological time, though other lakes are known to demonstrate the reverse process, becoming less nutrient rich with time. Estuaries also tend to be naturally eutrophic because land-derived nutrients are concentrated where run-off enters the marine environment in a confined channel and mixing of relatively high nutrient fresh water with low nutrient marine water occurs. Phosphorus is often regarded as the main culprit in cases of eutrophication in lakes subjected to point source pollution from sewage. The concentration of algae and the tropic state of lakes correspond well to phosphorus levels in water. Studies conducted in the Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario have shown a relationship between the addition of phosphorus and the rate of eutrophication. Humankind has increased the rate of phosphorus cycling on Earth by four times, mainly due to agricultural fertilizer production and application. Between 1950 and 1995, 600,000,000 tonnes of phosphorus were applied to Earth's surface, primarily on croplands. Control of point sources of phosphorus have resulted in rapid control of eutrophication, mainly due to policy changes. Human activities can accelerate the rate at which nutrients enter ecosystems. Runoff from agriculture and development, pollution from septic systems and sewers, and other humanrelated activities increase the flux of both inorganic nutrients and organic substances into terrestrial, aquatic, and coastal marine ecosystems (including coral reefs). Elevated atmospheric compounds of nitrogen can increase soil nitrogen availability.

Chemical forms of nitrogen are most often of concern with regard to eutrophication because plants have high nitrogen requirements so that additions of nitrogen compounds stimulate plant growth (primary production). Nitrogen is not readily available in soil because N2, a gaseous form of nitrogen, is very stable and unavailable directly to higher plants. Terrestrial ecosystems rely on microbial nitrogen fixation to convert N2 into other physical forms (such as nitrates). However, there is a limit to how much nitrogen can be utilized. Ecosystems receiving more nitrogen than the plants require are called nitrogen-saturated. Saturated terrestrial ecosystems contribute both inorganic and organic nitrogen to freshwater, coastal, and marine eutrophication, where nitrogen is also typically a limiting nutrient. However, in marine environments, phosphorus may be limiting because it is leached from the soil at a much slower rate than nitrogen, which are highly insoluble.

Ecological Effects
Adverse effects of eutrophication on lakes, reservoirs, rivers and coastal marine waters Increased biomass of phytoplankton Toxic or inedible phytoplankton species Increases in blooms of gelatinous zooplankton Increased biomass of benthic and epiphytic algae Changes in macrophyte species composition and biomass Decreases in water transparency Taste, odour, and water treatment problems Dissolved oxygen depletion Increased incidences of fish kills Loss of desirable fish species Reductions in harvestable fish and shellfish Decreases in perceived aesthetic value of the water body

Many ecological effects can arise from stimulating primary production, but there are three particularly troubling ecological impacts: decreased biodiversity, changes in species composition and dominance, and toxicity effects.

Decreased Biodiversity
When an ecosystem experiences an increase in nutrients, primary producers reap the benefits first. In aquatic ecosystems, species such as algae experience a population increase (called an algal bloom). Algal blooms limit the sunlight available to bottom-dwelling organisms and cause wide swings in the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. Oxygen is required by all respiring plants and animals and it is replenished in daylight by photosynthesizing plants and algae. Under eutrophic conditions, dissolved oxygen greatly increases during the day, but is greatly reduced after dark by the respiring algae and by microorganisms that feed on the increasing mass of dead algae. When dissolved oxygen levels decline to hypoxic levels, fish and other marine animals suffocate. As a result, creatures such as fish, shrimp, and especially immobile bottom dwellers die off. In extreme cases, anaerobic conditions ensue, promoting growth of bacteria such as Clostridium botulinum that produces toxins deadly to birds and mammals. Zones where this occurs are known as dead zones.

Sources of high nutrient runoff

Characteristics of point and nonpoint sources of chemical inputs Point sources
Wastewater effluent (municipal and industrial) Runoff and leachate from waste disposal systems Runoff and infiltration from animal feedlots Runoff from mines, oil fields, unsewered industrial sites Overflows of combined storm and sanitary sewers Runoff from construction sites >20,000 m

Nonpoint Sources
Runoff from agriculture/irrigation Runoff from pasture and range Urban runoff from unsewered areas Septic tank leachate Runoff from construction sites <20,000 m Runoff from abandoned mines Atmospheric deposition over a water surface Other land activities generating contaminants

Point sources
Point sources are directly attributable to one influence. In point sources the nutrient waste travels directly from source to water. For example, factories that have waste discharge pipes directly leading into a water body would be classified as a point source. Point sources are relatively easy to regulate.

Nonpoint sources
Nonpoint source pollution (also known as 'diffuse' or 'runoff' pollution) is that which comes from ill-defined and diffuse sources. Nonpoint sources are difficult to regulate and usually vary spatially and temporally (with season, precipitation, and other irregular events). It has been shown that nitrogen transport is correlated with various indices of human activity in watersheds, including the amount of development. Agriculture and development are activities that contribute most to nutrient loading. There are three reasons that nonpoint sources are especially troublesome: Soil retention Runoff to surface water and leaching to groundwater Atmospheric deposition

Prevention and reversal

Eutrophication poses a problem not only to ecosystems, but to humans as well. Reducing eutrophication should be a key concern when considering future policy, and a sustainable solution for everyone, including farmers and ranchers, seems feasible. While eutrophication does pose problems, humans should be aware that natural runoff (which causes algal blooms in the wild) is common in ecosystems and should thus not reverse nutrient concentrations beyond normal levels.

Effectiveness
Cleanup measures have been mostly, but not completely, successful. Finnish phosphorus removal measures started in the mid-1970s and have targeted rivers and lakes polluted by industrial and municipal discharges. These efforts have had a 90% removal efficiency. Still, some targeted point sources did not show a decrease in runoff despite reduction efforts. what can the economy do?

Impact of farming
Farming is what makes possible the production of food surpluses and settled living. It also brings about big changes in the relationships between living things and in their habitats. Farming - especially modern, intensive farming can damage the environment in many different ways.

Effect of fertilizers
Fertilisers containing plant nutrients are sprayed onto fields to make plants grow faster and boost crop yields. When it rains the nutrients may get washed down from the fields and into rivers and lakes (this is called run-off). The result is eutrophication - which can kill almost everything living in the aquatic environment. It works like this:

Effect of pesticides
Pesticides are chemicals used to kill insects, weeds and microorganisms that might damage crops. However, pesticides damage other organisms apart from those they are intended to kill - for example, depriving insect-eating birds of food.

Pesticides can also enter local food chains. Organisms that ingest them cannot break them down, so they persist in their bodies. (Substances that cannot be broken down are called persistent substances: the pesticide DDT is an example.) The pesticides may then build up at ever-higher levels until they become toxic to much larger organisms. Here's how it works:

Other impacts of farming

Agriculture can impact on the environment in many other ways. For example: farming takes up land, reducing habitats and wildlife monocultures (large amounts of one type of food) provide lots of food for pests as well as humans irrigation (watering of crops) may take too much water from rivers, depriving downstream habitats of water clearing land for farming may result in soil erosion, damaging ecosystems and leaving land barren Intensive livestock farming produces huge amount of faeces, which may pollute waterways