Introduction
Eutrophication is a widespread matter of concern affecting estuaries and other coastal ecosystems, and detrimental to coastal and marine species (Gray, Wu & Or 2002; Bricker et al. 2008). Gray, Wu and Or (2002) describe the eutrophication process as an increase in different nutrient levels resulting in creation of both dissolved and particles of organic substance which ultimately leads to decrease in level of oxygen concentrations due to decaying or degeneration of those organic substances.
When the nutrient input in bay areas was reduced, the result was recovery in some parts of the ecosystem (Kemp et al. 2005). The finding suggests that nutrient loading does have detrimental effects on natural pathways of ecosystems. Increasing nitrogen and other chemicals results in eutrophication, and affects the biogeochemistry and ecological community by causing an increase in some harmful species like phytoplankton and algae and decreasing the level of dissolved oxygen. Other important species
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(2015) lists some of the sources of nutrients as adaptation in use of land, dumping of untreated sewage and garbage, mining and construction activities in coastal areas, pesticide and insecticide use. Indirectly, biogeochemical cycles can add nutrients from the atmosphere into the marine ecosystem via rain (Hapeman et al. 2002). Untreated wastewater effluent from industries, runoff water from lawns and farmlands runoff into freshwater and mix with the bay water and contaminate it. According to Kemp et al. (2005), farms are in close proximity to water sources. Nutrients from pesticides, insecticides and animal waste can easily end up in water sources as runoff. Nitrogen, phosphorous and carbon are some of the many chemicals that end as runoff disturbing the ecosystem in estuaries (Gray et al. 2002; Kemp et al. 2005). Waste water treatment plant also contribute nitrogen and phosphorous (Hapeman et al. 2002). The result is eutrophication of coastal
Nitrogen and nitrates relate to Hypoxia via the process of eutrophication. Since Nitrogen is a limiting nutrient in most waters, the added input of nitrate causes massive growth in algae. The algae rapidly consume all available N, and once the nutrient is limited again, the alga dies en masse. As the alga decomposes, oxygen is depleted in the water. This lowers dangerously lowers the level of dissolved oxygen in the water, which harms living organisms in the area. Small organisms and organisms that are immobile or unable to escape low-oxygen areas are particularly vulnerable. Hypoxia and resulting “dead zones” are harmful to local fishing and shrimping industries and algal blooms hurt the tourism industry. Hypoxia has lead to a decrease of about 25% in the brown shrimp habitat, forcing shrimping operations further offshore. As the hypoxia issue continues to grow, negative human effects will only increase. Since nitrate runoff from ag. has been proven to be the dominant source of hypoxia, policies could be enacted to effectively deal with “point-source” pollution. This makes enacting environmental policy more easily adapted, possibly included in past policy such as the Clean Water Act.
The Chesapeake Bay is the nation’s largest estuary with six major tributaries, the James, the Potomac, the Susquehanna, the Patuxent, the York, and the Rappahannock Rivers, feeding into the bay from various locations in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia (Chemical Contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay – Workshop Discussion 1). These areas depend on the Bay as both an environmental and an economic resource. Throughout the last 15 years the Chesapeake Bay has suffered from elevated levels of pollution. Nitrogen and phosphorous from wastewater treatment plants, farmland, air pollution, and development all lead to reduced water clarity and lowered oxygen levels, which harm fish, crabs, oysters and underwater grasses (Key Commission Issues 1). There are other types of pollution in the bay such as toxic chemicals, but because nutrient pollution is the most significant and most widespread in the Bay its effects are the most harmful to fisheries. Nitrogen and phosphorous fuel algal blooms which cloud the water and block sunlight from reaching underwater grass beds that provide food and habitat for waterfowl, juvenile fish, blue crabs, and other species (Blankenship 11-12). Algae plays a vital role in the food chain by providing food for small fish and oysters. However, when there is an overabundance of algae it dies, sinks to the bottom of the Bay, and decomposes in such a manner that depletes the oxygen levels of the Bay (11). The reduced oxygen levels in the Bay reduce the carrying capacity of the environment and these “dead areas” sometimes kill off species that can not migrate to other areas of the Bay, such as oysters (11). Increased abundance of algal blooms also led to the overabundance of harmful and toxic algae species and microbes such as the microbe Pfiesteria, which was responsible in 1997 for eating fish alive and making dozens of people sick (12). The heightened awareness of diseases that can be contracted through consumption of contaminated fish also has an economic impact. Therefore, the excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorous have fueled an overabundance of algal blooms, which has reduced water clarity and lowered oxygen levels, affecting many species within the bay and ultimately the industries that rely on these species.
The Chesapeake Bay plays host to an astonishing amount of plant and animal life, providing much of our fish intake for species that aren’t being overfished. For the species that are being overdrawn, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is working to restore the populations, and it’s going well thus far. Another theme that is endangering the marine life populations as well as the health of the human population is the massive amount of polluti...
One of the Bays biggest resources is its oysters. Oysters are filter feeders which mean they feed on agley and clean the water. The oysters feed on agley and other pollutants in the bay turning them into food for them, then they condense the food down to nutrient and developed things like pearls.Filtering the water also helps the oyster to grow. One oyster can filter 50 gallons of water a day, Oysters used to be able to filter the Bay in about a week. However these creatures are now scarce in the bay. The Chesapeake Bays Oyster (crassostrea virginica) Population has declined severely because of over harvesting, agricultural runoff, and disease. Now the Chesapeake Bay is becoming polluted without the oysters and the water is not nearly as clean as it once was. The Chesapeake Bay was the first estuary in the nation to be targeted for restoration as an integrated watershed and ecosystem. (Chesapeake Bay Program n/d). This report will show the cause and effect of the Chesapeake Bay's Oyster decline on the Bay.
According to NOAA phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that continuously convert sunlight and nutrients into living tissue. Phytoplankton can be harmful to the bay because they at an uncontrollable rate causing harmful algae blooms when there is an abundance of nutrients. Phytoplankton also serve as the main food source for a larger but still microscopic organism named Zooplankton. Marine Bio.org did a study on zooplnkton revealing that they are very weak swimmers making them an easy food source for any larger organsim. Zooplanktons’ main purpose serves as the main food source for small fish and
The Chesapeake Bay is a very large estuary that holds more than eighteen trillion gallons of water (“The Bay Watershed”). This large estuary is part of six of the different states of Maryland, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia (“Chesapeake Bay Program”). Some characteristics of the bay are salinity, temperature, and circulation. The bay watershed is home to seventeen million people and gains more people each year, so it is no wonder why there are pollution problems (“Chesapeake Bay Program”). The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and is diverse with life. Though the bay is filled with life, it faces many problems caused by humans.
Chesapeake Bay is an extremely large habitat to multipul different species. There is also a diverse biohabitat for the species to live in. Some of these bioms include marshes, forests, and streams. To be concidered a healthy ecosystem, the plants, animals, and other organisms must bennefit eachother. Although this sounds like a perfect system, there are many factors that can interfear with the ecosystem. One of those factors are humans. They have been going into the chesapeake bay, and building new houses, and making communities. This has a negative impact on the bay. This causes the bay to lose resourses than are essentail to the ecosystem. Some of those factors are the plants that would inhabit the bay. Humans go and tear down all of the plants, which leads to the energy loss to other organisms in the area. There is a rule called the ten percent rule. Energy is transfered from organism to organism daily. each time the energy switches person, the next individual only gets ten percent of the original energy. Humans being in the Chesapeake bay distupts the rule. We take energy, but give non in return to the rest of the environment. Way
“The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats, and biodiversity . . . that’s all there is” (Gaylord). Throughout the recent decades, the wealth of the Chesapeake Bay and adjacent rivers have been affected by a phenomenon called eutrophication. that occurs when there is an excess of a nutrient limited in the water, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments (Eney 2009). Those nutrients are naturally good in the environment since they help the bottom of the food chain, but a lot is not always good, and the Chesapeake Bay has been receiving too much of these nutrients during the last years. This causes an explosion of growth an algae (algae bloom). Since algae are photosynthetic their life after the eutrophication occurs is very short. Many algae die without being eaten by the primary consumers and the one that remains without eating after dying begins to decompose, leaving at the bottom of the water an anoxic zone "dead zone" where there is no oxygen for the organisms that live there to survive.
Guinotte, J. M. and Fabry, V. J. (2008), Ocean Acidification and Its Potential Effects on Marine Ecosystems. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1134: 320–342. doi: 10.1196/annals.1439.013
As the world develops and the human population grows there is more pollution being dumped into the oceans, causing major problems to marine life and ecosystems. Major causes of marine pollution involve non-point pollutants, marine garbage, toxic ocean pollutants and sewage disposal in oceans. From heavy metal poisoning including lead and mercury killing predators such as sharks and whales, to waste getting trapped in the digestive tracts of marine animals, this essay focuses on how human interference causes horrifying problems to the marine life, but also how to fix it. It will also explore the normal activities of people including farming and how this can cause an imbalance in an ecosystem. Everyday activities can cause massive nutrient loading in an ecosystem, but by reducing the amount of washing you do within the week, or using earth friendly washing detergents and fertilizers, this problem can be reduced.
... (The Issues: Factory Farming, n.d.). Nutrients and bacteria from that waste can also contaminate waterways, disturbing the aquatic ecosystems.
Eutrophication comes from the Greek word "eutrophos" meaning well-nourished. In other words, this natural process found in water occurs as a result of additional rich nutrients forming a flourish in plant production.
It has also been shown that anthropogenic actively has accelerated the problem. We know the cause of eutrophication: the overaccumulation of nitrogen and phosphorous in waters. Much of these nutrients derive from human activity, such as farming, urban runoff, and the burning of fossil fuels. We know the effect of eutrophication: the increase in nutrients leads to large phytoplankton blooms which degrade water quality. When these blooms die off, the decomposition of the dead algae potentially reduces dissolved oxygen in that area to hypoxic or even anoxic levels. The over consumption of oxygen can then lead to fish kills, alter ecosystem composition, inhibit life (excluding anaerobic organisms), and affect how we are able to use these waters. With this in mind, it seems clear that efforts should be made to look into ways of reducing and managing sources of cultrual eutrophication, for the improvement of water quality in the
Excessive nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen (including ammonia), can cause eutrophication, or over-fertilization of receiving waters, which can be toxic to aquatic organisms, promote excessive plant growth, reduce available oxygen, harm spawning grounds, alter habitat and lead to a decline in certain species;