Controlling harmful cyanobacterial blooms in a hyper-eutrophic lake (Lake Taihu, China): the need for a dual nutrient (N & P) management strategy

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms, reflecting advanced eutrophication, are spreading globally and threaten the sustainability of freshwater ecosystems. Increasingly, non-nitrogen (N₂)-fixing cyanobacteria (e.g., Microcystis) dominate such blooms, indicating that both excessive nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads may be responsible for their proliferation. Traditionally, watershed nutrient management efforts to control these blooms have focused on reducing P inputs. However, N loading has increased dramatically in many watersheds, promoting blooms of non-N₂ fixers, and altering lake nutrient budgets and cycling characteristics. We examined this proliferating water quality problem in Lake Taihu, China’s 3rd largest freshwater lake. This shallow, hyper-eutrophic lake has changed from bloom-free to bloom-plagued conditions over the past 3 decades. Toxic Microcystis spp. blooms threaten the use of the lake for drinking water, fisheries and recreational purposes. Nutrient addition bioassays indicated that the lake shifts from P limitation in winter-spring to N limitation in cyanobacteria-dominated summer and fall months. Combined N and P additions led to maximum stimulation of growth. Despite summer N limitation and P availability, non-N₂ fixing blooms prevailed. Nitrogen cycling studies, combined with N input estimates, indicate that Microcystis thrives on both newly supplied and previously-loaded N sources to maintain its dominance. Denitrification did not relieve the lake of excessive N inputs. Results point to the need to reduce both N and P inputs for long-term eutrophication and cyanobacterial bloom control in this hyper-eutrophic system.     

Assessing the effect of nutrient mitigation measures in the watersheds of the Southern Bight of the North Sea

The Seine, Somme, and Scheldt Rivers (France, Belgium, and Netherlands) are the major delivering rivers flowing into the continental coastal zone of the Southern Bight of the North Sea, an area regularly affected by eutrophication problems. In the present work, the Seneque-Riverstrahler model was implemented in a multi-regional case study in order to test several planned mitigation measures aimed at limiting stream nutrient contamination and restoring balanced nutrient ratios at the coastal zone.This modeling approach, which is spatially distributed at the basin scale, allows assessing the impact of any change in human activities, which widely differ over the three basins. Here, we define realistic scenarios based on currently proposed measures to reduce point and non-point sources, such as the upgrading of wastewater treatment, the introduction of catch crops, and the development of extensive farming. An analysis of the current situation showed that a 47-72% reduction in P point-source emissions within the three basins could be reached if the intended P treatment was generalized to the largest treatment plants. However, only an overall 14-23% reduction in N could be achieved at the outlet of the three basins, by combining improved wastewater treatment and land use with management measures aimed at regulating agricultural practices. Nonetheless, in spite of these efforts, N will still be exported in large excess with respect to the equilibrium defined by the Redfield ratios, even in the most optimistic hypothesis describing the long-term response of groundwater nitrate concentrations.A comprehensive assessment of these mitigation measures supports the need for additional reductions of nutrient losses from agriculture to control harmful algae development. It also stresses the relevance of this mechanistic approach, in which nutrient transfers from land to sea can be calculated, as an integrated strategy to test policy recommendations.     

An integrated multi-level watershed-reservoir modeling system for examining hydrological and biogeochemical processes in small prairie watersheds

Eutrophication of small prairie reservoirs presents a major challenge in water quality management and has led to a need for predictive water quality modeling. Studies are lacking in effectively integrating watershed models and reservoir models to explore nutrient dynamics and eutrophication pattern. A water quality model specific to small prairie water bodies is also desired in order to highlight key biogeochemical processes with an acceptable degree of parameterization. This study presents a Multi-level Watershed-Reservoir Modeling System (MWRMS) to simulate hydrological and biogeochemical processes in small prairie watersheds. It integrated a watershed model, a hydrodynamic model and an eutrophication model into a flexible modeling framework. It can comprehensively describe hydrological and biogeochemical processes across different spatial scales and effectively deal with the special drainage structure of small prairie watersheds. As a key component of MWRMS, a three-dimensional Willows Reservoir Eutrophication Model (WREM) is developed to addresses essential biogeochemical processes in prairie reservoirs and to generate 3D distributions of various water quality constituents; with a modest degree of parameterization, WREM is able to meet the limit of data availability that often confronts the modeling practices in small watersheds. MWRMS was applied to the Assiniboia Watershed in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Extensive efforts of field work and lab analysis were undertaken to support model calibration and validation. MWRMS demonstrated its ability to reproduce the observed watershed water yield, reservoir water levels and temperatures, and concentrations of several water constituents. Results showed that the aquatic systems in the Assiniboia Watershed were nitrogen-limited and sediment flux played a crucial role in reservoir nutrient budget and dynamics. MWRMS can provide a broad context of decision support for water resources management and water quality protection in the prairie region.     

Gone with the wind? Newspaper discourse of eutrophication and blue‐green algae blooms in Finland

The mass media shape the public and policy agenda by giving prominence to certain ecosystem changes and risks, as well as by framing some policy measures as the preferred ones. Based on longitudinal analysis of the leading Finnish newspaper, this study considers the media coverage of eutrophication. The results show an increase of reporting in the late 1990s as a result of intertwined ecological and social factors – i.e. intense algal occurrences and establishment of a national communication system. The news coverage has highlighted the harmful algal blooms and health risks of algal toxins and has framed short‐term weather conditions as the key factor regulating algal occurrences. This creates a challenge for environmental management aimed at reduction in the nutrient discharges that influence the state of the environment in the long term.     

Succession theory,eutrophication, and water quality management

Regulating eutrophication through nutrient limitation is a common water quality management technique. However, limiting nutrients does not confront the issue of the underlying cause for the development of the nuisance populations of blue‐green algae associated with eutrophication. To some extent, blue‐green blooms have been accepted as the natural outcome of a succession process, since traditional succession theory predicts a directed and determined sequence of species culminating in a climax community. However, current ecological succession theory does not support the inevitability of a specific sequence and rate of species replacement. Current theory is applied to a management situation by giving examples of how the abiotic and biotic factors involved in community interactions can be manipulated to prevent blue‐green population dominance. By directing the rate and sequence of species replacement, the process of succession can be altered so that eutrophication is regulated.     

Landscape planning to reduce coastal eutrophication: agricultural practices and constructed wetlands

Southern Sweden suffers from coastal eutrophication and one reason is the high nitrogen load through rivers. The major part of this load originates from diffuse land-based sources, e.g. arable soil leaching. Effective reduction of load from such sources demand careful landscape analysis, combined with changed behaviour of the stakeholders. This study describes a chain of methods to achieve trustworthy management plans that are based on numerical modelling and stakeholders participation and acceptance. The effect of some measures was unexpected when modelling their impact on the catchment scale.Management scenarios to reduce riverine nitrogen load were constructed in an actor game (i.e. role-play) for the Genevadsån catchment in southern Sweden. The game included stakeholders for implementation of a loading standard for maximum nitrogen transport at the river mouth. Scenarios were defined after negotiation among involved actors and included changes in agricultural practices, improved wastewater treatment, and establishment of wetlands. Numerical models were used to calculate the nitrogen reduction for different measures in each scenario. An index model (STANK) calculated the root zone leaching of nitrogen from crops at four type farms. This generated input to a catchment scale model (HBV-N) and farm economics. The economic impact of different sets of remedial measures was evaluated for each type farm and then extrapolated to the catchment.The results from scenario modelling show that possible changes in agricultural practices (such as tuning, timing of fertilisation and ploughing, changed crop cultivation) could reduce the nitrogen load to the sea by some 30%, while wetland construction only reduced the original load by some 5%. In the most cost-effective scenario agricultural practices could reduce the riverine load by 86 t per year at a cost of 1.0 million SEK, while constructed wetlands only reduced the load by 14 t per year at a cost of 1.7 million SEK. Thus, changed agricultural practices can be the most effective and less expensive way to reduce nitrogen transport from land to the sea, while constructed wetlands with realistic allocations and sizes may only have small impact on riverine nitrogen transport from land to sea. The overall experience is that actor games and numerical modelling are useful tools in landscape planning for analysing stakeholders’ behaviour and the impact of measures to reduce coastal eutrophication.     

Population growth away from the coastal zone: Thirty years of land use change and nutrient export in the Altamaha River, GA

We used more than thirty years of water quality monitoring data collected by the United States Geological Survey at several stations in the Altamaha River and its tributaries to examine the relationship between population density, agricultural land use, and nutrient export from the watershed. Population densities in the Altamaha River watershed increased during the study period, most notably in the upper watershed near metropolitan Atlanta, while agricultural land use declined throughout the watershed. NO_x, TN and P in rivers were related to human population densities, while OC and NH₄⁺ concentrations in rivers were apparently related to agricultural land use. A general pattern of increasing NO_x and TN and decreasing NH₄⁺, P and OC over time throughout the watershed reflected changing population and land use. The overall average load from the Altamaha River to the coastal zone during the study period was 1.1, 5.6, 16.9, 0.9 and 262 kmol km^− 2 yr^− 1, delivering 40, 197, 596, 30, and 9213 · 10⁶ mol yr^− 1 of NH₄⁺, NO_x, TN, P and OC, respectively, to the coastal zone. The nutrient export patterns suggest that N and P loading to rivers in the Altamaha River watershed was greatest in the upper watershed where high population densities were found, and in-stream processing, dilution, and only moderate inputs during transit through the lower watershed resulted in relatively low export from the watershed to coastal waters.     

A long-term view of nutrient transfers through the Seine river continuum

A model (the Riverstrahler model) is used to describe nutrient transfer and transformation at the scale of the whole drainage network of the Seine based on information concerning the basic mechanisms governing N, P and Si inputs to the drainage network and in-stream transformation and retention. It was used to calculate the budget of these nutrients through the whole river continuum from land to sea. With the help of historical documents, the constraints used as forcing function in this model were reconstructed to express the changing conditions of land-use and urban population over the last five hundred years. The corresponding scenarios were run for different hydrological regimes including dry, mean and wet conditions. The results were validated on the long-term series of nutrient measurements spanning more than a century available at some stations on the Seine, upstream and downstream of the city of Paris. The model was also used to explore past and future trends in nutrient loading, retention and delivery to the coastal zone, in response to human management of the terrestrial watershed. Beside the initial pristine state, used as an idealized reference state (with N, P and Si delivered fluxes of about 45-110 kg N km(-2) yr(-1), 2-5 kg P km(-2) yr(-1), 510-1325 kg Si km(-2) yr(-1)), four periods were distinguished. The first one is that of the traditional cottage economy which prevailed, with quite a constant total population, until the end of the 18th century. N, P and Si fluxes were about 235-750 kg N km(-2) yr(-1), 15-60 kg P km(-2) yr(-1) and 425-1280 kg Si km(-2) yr(-1), depending on hydrological conditions. The second period, from the beginning of the 19th century to about the 1950's, corresponded to rapid increase in the total and urban population with a corresponding increase of point sources of N and P. From 1950 onwards, modern farming practices resulted in a dramatic increase in diffuse sources of nitrogen and to a lesser extent phosphorus: riverine N and P export reached 1320-2800 kg N km(-2) yr(-1), and 310-340 kg P km(-2) yr(-1): silica export remained fairly constant at around 410-1260 kg Si km(-2) yr(-1) depending on the hydrological conditions. In the 1990's, the fourth period is represented by a stabilized population and improved wastewater treatment, when the export of phosphorus is reduced to values as low as 40-60 kg P km(-2) yr(-1), but without as effective a reduction of nitrogen export. This represents an unprecedented situation for the marine coastal system, i.e. a shift from nitrogen to phosphorus limitation, as nitrogen is still delivered far in excess of the amount of silica available for diatom blooms.     

Import-export balance of nitrogen and phosphorus in food, fodder and fertilizers in the Baltic Sea drainage area

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are essential elements for life, but in excess they contribute to aquatic eutrophication. The Baltic Sea is a brackish semi-enclosed sea that is heavily influenced by anthropogenic loading of nutrients, resulting in a major environmental problem, eutrophication. In this study, the nutrient balance of the food production and consumption system in seven countries in the Baltic Sea drainage area was quantified for the period 2002-2005. The food production and consumption system accumulates nutrients in the Baltic Sea drainage area, due to extensive imports to the system. The average annual net surplus of nutrients was 1 800 000 tons N and 320 000 tons P in 2002-2005, or annually 28 kg N and 5 kg P per capita. The average total annual import was 2 100 000 tons N and 340 000 tons P during 2002-2005. The largest imports to the system were fertilizers, totaling 1 700 000 tons N and 290 000 tons P. Traded nutrients in food and fodder amounted to a net annual surplus of 180 000 tons N and 25 000 tons P. The nutrient load to the Baltic Sea due to the food consumption and production system was 21% N and 6% P of the respective annual net inputs to the region. This study shows that large amounts of nutrients to Baltic Sea drainage area are inputs from outside the region, eventually contributing to eutrophication. To reduce the nutrient imports, fertilizers should be used more efficiently, nutrients should be recycled more efficiently inside the region, and food system should be guided toward low-nutrient intensive diets.     

Eutrophication problems in Emilia Romagna,Italy: Monitoring the nutrient load discharged to the littoral zone of the Adriatic Sea

The deteriorating eutrophic state of the northern Adriatic Sea led to the commissioning of a study between 1977 and 1979 to identify the sources and forms of the nutrients phosphorus and nitrogen discharged from the basin of the river Savio. The study investigated the reduction in the phosphorus load in sewage per head of population caused by a reduction in the phosphorus content of detergents used in the basin and by the use of septic tanks. The flow and nutrient loads carried by the river were monitored during dry and wet weather to establish annual nutrient loads carried to the sea. An extensive sampling programme was carried out to quantify the principal sources of nutrients of which the most important were pig farming, Man and chemical fertilisers. An attempt was made to balance the nutrient loads discharged from the basin.     

Contributions of meteorology to the phenology of cyanobacterial blooms: implications for future climate change

Cyanobacterial blooms are often a result of eutrophication. Recently, however, their expansion has also been found to be associated with changes in climate. To elucidate the effects of climatic variables on the expansion of cyanobacterial blooms in Taihu, China, we analyzed the relationships between climatic variables and bloom events which were retrieved by satellite images. We then assessed the contribution of each climate variable to the phenology of blooms using multiple regression models. Our study demonstrates that retrieving ecological information from satellite images is meritorious for large-scale and long-term ecological research in freshwater ecosystems. Our results show that the phenological changes of blooms at an inter-annual scale are strongly linked to climate in Taihu during the past 23 yr. Cyanobacterial blooms occur earlier and last longer with the increase of temperature, sunshine hours, and global radiation and the decrease of wind speed. Furthermore, the duration increases when the daily averages of maximum, mean, and minimum temperature each exceed 20.3 °C, 16.7 °C, and 13.7 °C, respectively. Among these factors, sunshine hours and wind speed are the primary contributors to the onset of the blooms, explaining 84.6% of their variability over the past 23 yr. These factors are also good predictors of the variability in the duration of annual blooms and determined 58.9% of the variability in this parameter. Our results indicate that when nutrients are in sufficiently high quantities to sustain the formation of cyanobacterial blooms, climatic variables become crucial in predicting cyanobacterial bloom events. Climate changes should be considered when we evaluate how much the amount of nutrients should be reduced in Taihu for lake management.     

Bioremediation efficiency in the removal of dissolved inorganic nutrients by the red seaweed, Porphyra yezoensis, cultivated in the open sea

The bioremediation capability and efficiency of large-scale Porphyra cultivation in the removal of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus from open sea area were studied. The study took place in 2002-2004, in a 300 ha nori farm along the Lusi coast, Qidong County, Jiangsu Province, China, where the valuable rhodophyte seaweed Porphyra yezoensis has been extensively cultivated. Nutrient concentrations were significantly reduced by the seaweed cultivation. During the non-cultivation period of P. yezoensis, the concentrations of NH4-N, NO2-N, NO3-N and PO4-P were 43-61, 1-3, 33-44 and 1-3 micromol L(-1), respectively. Within the Porphyra cultivation area, the average nutrient concentrations during the Porphyra cultivation season were 20.5, 1.1, 27.9 and 0.96 micromol L(-1) for NH4-N, NO2-N, NO3-N and PO4-P, respectively, significantly lower than in the non-cultivation season (p<0.05). Compared with the control area, Porphyra farming resulted in the reduction of NH4-N, NO2-N, NO3-N and PO4-P by 50-94%, 42-91%, 21-38% and 42-67%, respectively. Nitrogen and phosphorus contents in dry Porphyra thalli harvested from the Lusi coast averaged 6.3% and 1.0%, respectively. There were significant monthly variations in tissue nitrogen content (p<0.05) but not in tissue phosphorus content (p>0.05). The highest tissue nitrogen content, 7.65% in dry wt, was found in December and the lowest value, 4.85%, in dry wt, in April. The annual biomass production of P. yezoensis was about 800 kg dry wt ha(-1) at the Lusi Coast in 2003-2004. An average of 14708.5 kg of tissue nitrogen and 2373.5 kg of tissue phosphorus in P. yezoensis biomass were harvested annually from 300 ha of cultivation from Lusi coastal water. These results indicated that Porphyra efficiently removed excess nutrient from nearshore eutrophic coastal areas. Therefore, large-scale cultivation of P. yezoensis could alleviate eutrophication in coastal waters economically.     

Estimation of monthly diffuse nutrient loads for a watershed in Turkey

Diffuse pollution has a complex nature depending on various land‐use activities like agriculture, livestock breeding and forestry. In this study, an alternative methodology is applied for decreasing the spatial uncertainty of diffuse nutrient load estimations. It is applied in the Melen Watershed, Turkey, which is an important watershed from where additional water will be supplied for the megacity Istanbul via interbasin water transfer. Monthly diffuse nutrient loads were estimated for each subwatershed by utilizing remote sensing (RS) and geographical information systems (GIS). Estimated nutrient loads were considerably different in various months due to the temporally irregular fertilizer application and meteorological conditions. Temporal differences were also predicted in the spatial distribution of the nutrient loads. The methodology is applicable in watershed protection studies, especially where necessary etudes should be conducted in the short term and with limited data. Such efforts in identifying and determining the diffuse loads are important for sustainable management of the watershed.     

Distributions of rare earths and heavy metals in field-grown maize after application of rare earth-containing fertilizer

Macroalgal blooms have been considered to be an indicator of eutrophication. A new and rapid method is described for the assessment of macroalgal cover in the intertidal zone of estuaries. Macroalgal cover in the intertidal of the nutrient-enriched River Deben estuary was found to reach a maximum of 50% coverage, but this varied seasonally with the highest percentage cover during June and July. Macro-algae mats were particularly associated with areas of hard substrata providing suitable attachment points, rather than with the nutrient concentrations along the estuary. The occurrence of macroalgae may be more related to the substrate than to the nutrient status of the estuary.     

Long-term changes in watershed nutrient inputs and riverine exports in the Neuse River, North Carolina

We compared patterns of historical watershed nutrient inputs with in-river nutrient loads for the Neuse River, NC. Basin-wide sources of both nitrogen and phosphorus have increased substantially during the past century, marked by a sharp increase in the last 10 years resulting from an intensification of animal production. However, this recent increase is not reflected in changes in river loading over the last 20 years. Temporal patterns in river loads more closely parallel short-term changes in point sources and cropland nutrient application despite their overall lower magnitude. Total phosphorus loads have declined at all stations considered, corresponding to a 1988 phosphate detergent ban. Nitrogen load temporal patterns vary by location and the nitrogen fraction considered. The furthest upstream station exhibited nitrogen decreases after the completion of a dam in 1983. At a station just downstream of a rapidly growing urban area, the total nitrogen load has increased since the mid-1980s, primarily as a nitrate concentration increase. This is consistent with concurrent increases in chemical fertilizer use and point source discharges, as well as increased nitrification at treatment plants. This increase in nitrate loading is not reflected at the most downstream station, where no clear nitrogen trends are discernable. The lack of clear downstream nutrient increases suggests that current water quality impairment in the lower river and estuary may result from chronic nutrient overload rather than recent changes in the watershed. If this is true, then the impact of a planned 30% nitrogen loading reduction may not be immediately apparent. We calculate that, given annual variability, detecting a load reduction of this magnitude will take at least four years, and, should nutrients accumulated in the watershed become a significant source, detecting the resulting ecological improvements is likely to take substantially longer.     

Some factors affecting coastal landscape aesthetic quality assessment

Seventy beaches in Wales, UK, were investigated with regard to quality of beach scenery using video panoramas. Scenic beauty was judged by three groups: coastal managers/academics; students in environmental sciences; and technical staff with no environmental training. Cloud cover at time of filming had a significant effect on scoring so a correction was applied for further data analysis. A strong preference was observed for undeveloped beaches over those where anthropogenic structures were prominent (p = 0.00), and for beaches with high relative relief. Beach commercialization level had an independent effect only on scores from the student group (p = 0.02). Results suggested that coastal managers/academics may assess beach landscape quality according to different criteria to those applied by people with no environmental training. Extreme scores did not seem to be well predicted by analysis of quantifiable landscape components and scores from the untrained judging group were also less predictable. The findings could contribute to coastal aesthetic resource management by demonstrating the feasibility of quantitatively assessing beach scenic quality for a large number of beaches. Identification, albeit tentative, of landscape parameters important in scenic quality assessment by various stakeholder groups could also contribute to the coastal management/planning process.     

Phytoplankton in a polluted subarctic lake before and after nutrient reduction

Phytoplankton and water chemistry were studied in a eutrophic subarctic Swedish lake before and after nutrient reduction. Pollution started in 1964 and the lake had received about 4.5 tons of phosphorus by the time the treatment plant was built in 1974. After that only 18–20 kg P yr^?1 entered the lake. Before nutrient reduction the phytoplankton consisted principally of three species, Dictyosphaerium pulchellum var. minutum, Chromulina cv. darlecarlica and Cryptomonas cv. ovata. Two years after the P-load was reduced Chlamydomonas spp and Mallomonas akrokomos predominated in the plankton and their dominance has been maintained during the period of study. Seasonal average phytoplankton biomass decreased from 11.2 g m^?3 in 1973 to 2.9 g m^?3 in 1980. Average seasonal total phosphorus concentrations decreased from 168 μgl^?1 in 1973 to 74 μgl^?1 in 1980. Average Secchi depth readings increased from 1.3 m in 1973 to 2.1 m in 1980. Blue-green algae never had any quantitative importance in the lake and no blooms were observed.     

Vulnerability of coastal environments to land use and abuse: the example of southeast Florida

The Atlantic coastal zone of subtropical southeast Florida supports nearly 7 million inhabitants. Since the mid‐19th century urbanization intensified along the shore and spread westward into freshwater marshlands. Population densities approaching 2500 persons per km^?2 and dredge and fill operations to create urban land in western marshes has degraded coastal environments bringing environmental sustainability into question. Efforts to maintain environmental integrity initially focused on shore protection via ‘hard’ engineering works, which later included massive beach renourishment projects along developed coasts subject to critical erosion. Marine algal blooms, degraded coastal water quality and the deterioration of coral reefs indicate environmental problems more serious than beach erosion. Recognition of a potential eco‐catastrophe prompted the Everglades Restoration Project, the largest single environmental recovery effort in the world. The cleanup of terrestrial systems is essential to sustainability of marine ecosystems now jeopardized by nutrient loading.