![]() ![]() ![]() The decomposition causes the water to become depleted of oxygen if the water body is not regularly mixed vertically. Bacterial communities begin to decompose the remains, using up oxygen for respiration. Eventually, the algal bloom dies and sinks to the bottom of the lake. The plants beneath the algal bloom die because they cannot get sunlight to perform photosynthesis. The algal bloom reduces light penetration. The excess nutrients cause an algal bloom. ![]() Some nutrients run off over the ground into the body of water. Some nutrients leach into the soil and later drain into surface water. Excess nutrients are applied to the soil. The term "eutrophication" comes from the Greek eutrophos, meaning "well-nourished". The term eutrophication is widely used by both scientists and public policy-makers, giving it myriad definitions. Shellfish in estuaries, seaweed farming and geo-engineering in lakes are also being used, some at the experimental stage. Īpproaches for prevention and reversal of eutrophication include: minimizing point source pollution from sewage, and minimizing nutrient pollution from agriculture and other nonpoint pollution sources. This process may result in oxygen depletion of the water body after the bacterial degradation of the algae. Algal blooms can either be just a nuisance to those wanting to use the water body or become harmful algal blooms that can cause substantial ecological degradation in water bodies. Nutrient pollution, a form of water pollution, is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters, in which excess nutrients, usually nitrogen or phosphorus, stimulate algal and aquatic plant growth.Ī common visible effect of eutrophication is algal blooms. Anthropogenic or "cultural eutrophication" is often a much more rapid process in which nutrients are added to a water body from a wide variety of polluting inputs including untreated or partially treated sewage, industrial wastewater and fertilizer from farming practices. These nutrients derive from degradation and solution of minerals in rocks and by the effect of lichens, mosses and fungi actively scavenging nutrients from rocks. When occurring naturally, eutrophication is a very slow process in which nutrients, especially phosphorus compounds and organic matter, accumulate in water bodies. This depends on the location and other factors. In coastal waters on the other hand, the main contributing nutrient is more likely to be nitrogen, or nitrogen and phosphorus together. In freshwater ecosystems it is almost always caused by excess phosphorus. Eutrophication can affect freshwater or salt water systems. ![]() Advanced eutrophication may also be referred to as dystrophic and hypertrophic conditions. : 459 Water bodies with very low nutrient levels are termed oligotrophic and those with moderate nutrient levels are termed mesotrophic. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytoplankton productivity". They are often harmful.Įutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. Eutrophication can cause algal blooms like this one in a river near Chengdu, Sichuan, China. ![]()
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