Eutrophication of Freshwaters: Principles, problems and restoration

ISBN-13: 9789401053662 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 327 str.

David Harper

Opis

Eutrophication is a problem which became widely recognised by the scientific community in the 1940s and 1950s. It raised public concern, resulting in increased research effort and expenditure on management techniques through the 1960s and 1970s, recognised as a distinct problem of water pollution, though linked with the more gross effects of organic pollution. In the 1980s it became less fashionable - replaced in the public's eye and the politician's purse by newer problems such as acid rain. It remains however, one of the biggest and most widespread problems of fresh waters, particularly of lakes and an increasing problem for estuaries and coastal waters. It is one with which almost all water scientists and engineers in urbanised areas of the world have to cope. Technical methods for the reversal of eutrophication, such as nutrient removal, have been developed and applied successfully in some instances. They are not widespread however, and where they are feasible, they are often expensive and may be politically difficult to implement. In the last decade, attention has focussed upon less expensive lake manipula- tion techniques, such as destratification and biomanipulation, which aim to minimise rather than elimininate the detrimental effects of eutrophication. These are becoming more widely applied. Prediction of the potential problems in lakes and catchments which have not yet suffered the full effects of eutrophication is now accurate enough to be of direct benefit to river basin management.

Spis treści

1. What is eutrophication?.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 Definition and origin of the term eutrophication.- 1.3 Links between eutrophication, biological changes and productivity in lakes.- 1.4 Eutrophication as a natural part of lake succession.- 1.5 Extent of artificial eutrophication.- 1.6 Eutrophication in rivers, estuaries and coastal waters.- 1.7 Measurement of eutrophication.- 2. The nutrients causing eutrophication, and their sources.- 2.1 The requirements of living cells for survival and growth.- 2.2 The important limiting nutrients.- 2.3 The supply of nitrogen and phosphorus to lakes.- 2.4 Relative importance of diffuse and point sources in catchments.- 2.5 Global aspects of nutrient runoff.- 2.6 Methods for estimating the magnitude of nutrient losses from catchments.- 3. The biochemical manifestations of eutrophication.- 3.1 The components of nutrient cycles in aquatic systems.- 3.2 The ultimate sinks of inflowing nitrogen and phosphorus.- 3.3 Changes in the cycles which occur as a consequence of enhanced nutrient inputs.- 3.4 The importance of the littoral zone in nutrient cycles.- 3.5 Seasonal patterns of nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in lakes.- 3.6 Important features of nutrient transformations in rivers and estuaries.- 4. The biological effects of eutrophication.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Production and species changes of algae and rnacrophytes.- 4.3 Effects of eutrophication upon rnacrophytes and attached algae.- 4.4 Production and species changes in zooplankton.- 4.5 Production and species changes of zoobenthos.- 4.6 Effects of eutrophication on fish and other vertebrates.- 4.7 Aquatic food-web considerations.- 4.8 Wider implications for wildlife and conservation.- 5. The engineering, economic and social effects of eutrophication.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Water supply.- 5.3 Fisheries management.- 5.4 Land drainage and weed control in rivers.- 5.5 Wildlife conservation.- 5.6 Public health hazards and nuisances.- 5.7 Other recreational aspects.- 6. Prediction and modelling of the causes and effects of eutrophication.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Experimental approaches to measures of eutrophication effects.- 6.3 The application of models in eutrophication assessment and prediction.- 6.4 Caution in the use of regression equations.- 6.5 Lake classification based on correlations and large data sets.- 6.6 Other lake classification indices.- 6.7 Dynamic models of lake ecosystems.- 6.8 Prediction without models.- 7. The reduction of causes and the management of effects of eutrophication.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Reduction of nutrient inputs to lakes.- 7.3 Evaluation of nutrient control measures.- 7.4 Control of nutrient concentrations within lakes.- 7.5 Management of lakes without nutrient reduction.- 8. A case study in restoration: shallow eutrophic lakes in the Norfolk Broads.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 Historical perspective.- 8.3 Eutrophication of the Broads.- 8.4 Mechanisms of change.- 8.5 Effects of change.- 8.6 Restoration of Broadland.- 8.7 Lake sediment as a source of phosphorus.- 8.8 Changes in the storage of phosphorus in lake sediment following phosphorus control.- 8.9 Biological response to reduced nutrient loading.- 8.10 Nutrient reduction by isolation.- 8.11 Sediment removal and lake isolation.- 8.12 Biomanipulation as a restoration technique.- 8.13 The restoration of Broadland in the context of two stable communities.- References.