Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS31 Integrated Approaches to Drainage Basin Nutrient Inputs and Inland/Coastal Eutrophication (Science and Society Connections)

Date: Thursday, February 15, 2001, Time: 2:15:00 PM

Location: Cimarron

Smith, V, H, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA, vsmith@ukans.edu

DEVELOPMENT OF EMPIRICAL EUTROPHICATION MODELS FOR ESTUARINE AND COASTAL MARINE ECOSYSTEMS

Estuarine and coastal marine eutrophication is a problem of increasing global concern. Water quality deterioration associated with marine eutrophication can include decreases in water column transparency; increases in the intensity and frequency of harmful algal blooms; decreases in the biomass and areal cover of submersed vascular plants; increases in the degree and areal extent of oxygen depletion; and reductions in both finfish and shellfish yields. The modeling and management of eutrophication in freshwater lakes and reservoirs has advanced considerably since the publication of R.A. Vollenweider's seminal OECD report in 1968. A strong conceptual approach built primarily upon empirical models that relate algal biomass to concentrations of total phosphorus and total nitrogen, and upon mass-balance models that predict water column nutrient concentrations from watershed nutrient loading, has been applied with success worldwide. This empirical approach has strong potential value in marine eutrophication management as well, and its relevance and application to estuarine and coastal ecosystems will be discussed with specific examples.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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