The Effects And Effects Of Eutrophication

Scientists and researchers began giving a large volume of effort and look into the extremely complex problems that face the Chesapeake Bay. When research for the improving and saving of the Bay’s overall health began it seemed very simple and there were only a couple of problems. The problems included nutrients from agricultural runoff; these nutrients were phosphorus and nitrogen. The combination of the nutrients in the Bay caused a large volume of algae that choked some of the marine life. While bringing in algae the nutrients also killed grasses on the seafloor. These seafloor bed grasses that once covered more than half of the Chesapeake Bay’s floor now only covered a tenth of their original area. Though the estuary was having problems it did not receive the terrible pollution from industries that many large rivers and lakes do in other urban areas (Brown, p. 397).

Eutrophication is a concern in the Chesapeake Bay. Eutrophication is caused by excessive amounts of nutrients. Excessive nutrients in the bay have negative effects on the bay's ecosystem. The extra nutrients make the environment unbalanced. The extra nutrients cause a chain reaction that eventually kills most of the organisms in that area. This is what is known as a dead zone.

The Effects of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Enrichment on Water Samples from Encanto Lake and the Rio Salado River.

In this research paper I will talk about how a large decrease in the algae population in the Chesapeake Bay will cause problems for not just fish and other species but the people who fish and make a living off of it. A large decrease in algae population will have a domino effect on the food chain. Having a major decrease in algae will hurt how others species live and protect themselves.

Even though, fertilizers are needed to supply essential nutrients to the growth of plants; an excess of them is one of the major issues contributing to pollution in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Fertilizers are mainly composed of two elements: nitrogen and phosphorus.(4) Throughout the years, millions of pounds of this nutrients are applied all around the Chesapeake Bay Watershed; everything not absorbed by the soil or taken up by plants eventually reaches the Chesapeake Bay through storm-water runoff. This nutrients end up creating algae blooms in the water, which reduce the amount of sunlight available to underwater grasses; not allowing plants to photosynthesize and produce the food they need to survive. Algae then decomposes creating dead zones killing fish and other species since oxygen is needed for any organism to live. (5)

Phosphorus, “...the primary algae-feeding nutrient in Lake Erie, and contributed to the largest algae bloom in history last year” (McCarty, para. 3), is a key factor in how

Did you ever wonder how things you do everyday effect the Chesapeake Bay watershed and Its tributaries? Well, It turns out to be not so good. One of the main causes for the Bay’s bad health are nutrients which are caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the air and water. Plants and animals need nutrients to survive but when too many nutrients are in the water they fuel the growth of algae blooms and create conditions that are harmful for aquatic creatures.

Algae blooms have been an issue in the Chesapeake Bay, especially in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Algae is a natural and critical part of the ecosystem, however in large doses it is harmful to the plants and organisms within the ecosystem. Algae blooms can block out sunlight and kill other plants in the water. Algae depends on various factors such as water, nutrients and carbon dioxide to grow. Eutrophication of the Inner Harbor has lead to algae blooms that have caused large fish kills in the past. When there is an over abundance of certain chemical nutrients eutrophication can occur. Runoff from land and farms is the main cause of excess nutrients into the water. The most common nutrients that are related to algae outbreaks are nitrate nitrogen and phosphate. In addition, a lack of dissolved oxygen can also be an indicator for the process of eutrophication and risk of an algae outbreak. A particular type of algae commonly found in Maryland is known as Prorocentrum minimum. Prorocentrum tends to cause “mahogany tides” causing water to be brown and have an odor. There has been a campaign launched by the Healthy Harbor

Spanning lengths over 300,000 meters, this it is a watershed that extends over six states, the District of Columbia, and meets the needs of over 15 million individuals. With its high rate of productivity, its economic and social importance to the surrounding areas, and its close proximity to the U.S. capital, the Chesapeake has the recipient of significant attention for quite some time(Boesch, Donald). One of the issues that threatens this important estuary is eutrophication. For the majority of the 20th century, research, guidelines, and management activity were focused on other issues like wetland loss, over harvesting of fisheries, infectious wastes, etc (Davidson et al, 1997). It took until the final quarter of the century for widespread realization to hit that eutrophication had deteriorated the Bay, with extreme consequences for the Bay’s resources(Malone et al., 1993). After awareness of the impact of eutrophication on water bodies began to increase, when it came to making policies and managing the Chesapeake Bay, eutrophication reduction took precedence over any other issues. As the Bay remains a very important body of water, the significance of understanding one of the major processes responsible for its degradation remains as well. This paper aims to understand the contributing factors of eutrophication in the Chesapeake Bay, with a special focus on the effects of air and

What negative ecological effects might occur as a result of altering the phosphorus cycle? Include in your explanation how this effect could be measured. Potential impacts on things such as the algal community can be examined based on thermal preference as well as the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio. If there was additional phosphorous from the LSC, it would slightly decrease this ratio and may favor the growth of nitrogen-fixing blue-green algae.

Sewage treatment plants, air pollution, animal feed lots, and polluted runoff from cropland are four major sources to this issue. All of these forms of pollution create an overabundance of nitrogen and phosphorous in the water. According to The Chesapeake Bay Foundation,“The largest source of pollution to the Bay comes from agricultural runoff, which contributes roughly 40 percent of the nitrogen and 50 percent of the phosphorus entering the Chesapeake Bay.” Although nitrogen and phosphorous are beneficial in moderation for the organisms living in the Chesapeake Bay, they cause a notable amount of damage in excess. Excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous cause algal blooms. There are many different types of algae, some are good for the ecosystem, and some are dangerous and can cause “dead zones” where aquatic life no longer flourishes. Too much or too little of both good and bad algae can be extremely harmful to the marine

The purpose of this experiment is to understand the effects of nutrient enrichment and eutrophication, using samples of water from Rio Salado and Encanto Park. The samples will contain different concentration levels of nitrogen, phosphorous and nitrogen and phosphorous combined and the impact it has on algae growth. The results recorded showed that the nitrogen concentration levels had a little change, phosphorous levels had a higher change and phosphorous and nitrogen combined had a significantly higher change, resulting in higher algae growth. The results showed that phosphorous indeed is a limiting nutrient in algae growth, but to achieve the highest growth rate, both nitrogen and phosphorous need to be combined.

Eutrophication is the slow process that occurs naturally in aquatic ecosystems, such as lakes and ponds. It is a result of an aging body of water gradually increasing its concentration of nutrients. This happens because the intervaling death and growth of organisms that, for whatever given reason, don’t cancel each other out, and modify the fertility of the ecosystem. Eutrophication is not inherently bad, but the hastening of this process through artificial means can be very harmful to the ecosystem, and ultimately end in failure.

This causes smaller aquatic fish to die off, and this eventually causes bigger aquatic fish who rely on consuming the smaller aquatic fish to die (Jobin, "Dams and Disease"). Before one knows it, a domino effect has occurred. Aquatic ecosystem services are even affected because they die from too many nutrients. Ecosystems can’t thrive without these ecosystem services because they tend the ecosystem such as caring for plants, et cetera (Newell, "The Globalization and Environment Reader").

Freshwater shrimp feed on the algae that grows as a result. The streams are kept clean by the freshwater shrimp eating the dead matter . Organisms such as fish would then die as sunlight cannot reach the other water plants, and the oxygen content of the water subsequently decreases too. Oxygen then decreases more because of decomposition by bacteria breaks down dead plant matter. According to Art Eutrophication is “The process by which a body of water acquires a high concentration of nutrients, especially phosphates and nitrates. These typically promote excessive growth of algae. As the algae die and decompose, high levels of organic matter and the decomposing organisms deplete the water of available oxygen, causing the death of other organisms, such as fish. Eutrophication is a natural, slow-aging process for a water body, but human activity greatly speeds up the process.” This has a direct impact on fish, their main predators who cannot not survive in low levels of oxygen, leading to an increase in freshwater shrimp