Abstract
Coastal zones have experienced an increased nutrient load during the past decades. In most cases, strongest increases took place since the 1950s. First signs of consequences of the increased nutrient loads were increased phytoplankton blooms, an increase in Harmful Algae Blooms, a decrease in seagrass and an increase in green macroalgae blooms. As a consequence of the increased production and accumulation of organic matter hypoxic conditions may develop with detrimental consequences for the benthic and pelagic ecosystems. The global extent of hypoxic areas has doubled since the 1960s. Relatively few time series exist, that document the early stages of eutrophication. With new data becoming available, it is now clear that the effects of eutrophication are very complex and in many cases site specific. Moreover, other aspects of human induced global change like temperature increase, or the introduction of non-indigenous species interact with phytoplankton dynamics, posing a challenge to future coastal research. A case study for the Wadden Sea, a coastal sea that is under severe pressure by continental Westeuropean rivers, is presented that shows the eutrophication history, and recent improvements after management decisions lead to decreasing nutrient loads.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Andersen JH, Schlüter L, Ærtebjerg G (2006) Coastal eutrophication: recent developments in definitions and implications for monitoring strategies. J Plankton Res 28:621–628
Anderson DM, Glibert PM, Burkholder JM (2002) Harmful algal blooms and eutrophication: nutrient sources, composition, and consequences. Estuaries 25:704–726
Behrenfeld MJ, Falkowski PG (1997) Photosynthetic rates derived from satellite-based chlorophyll concentration. Limnol Oceanogr 42:1–20
Beukema JJ (1989) Long-term changes in macrozoobenthic abundance on the tidal flats of the western part of the Wadden Sea. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen 43:403–415
Boesch DF (2002) Challenges and opportunities for science in reducing nutrient over-enrichment of coastal ecosystems. Estuaries 25:886–900
Borum J (1996) Shallow waters and land/sea boundaries. In: Jørgensen BB, Richardson K (eds) Eutrophication in coastal marine ecosystems. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp 179–203
Brzezinski MA (1985) The Si:C:N ratio of marine diatoms: interspecific variability and the effect of some environmental variables. J Phycol 21:347–357
Cloern JE, Foster SQ, Kleckner AE (2014) Phytoplankton primary production in the world’s estuarinecoastal ecosystems. Biogeosciences 11:2477–2501
Cadée GC, Hegeman J (2002) Phytoplankton in the Marsdiep at the end of the 20th century; 30 years monitoring biomass, primary production, and Phaeocystis blooms. J Sea Res 48:97–110
Cloern JE (1999) The relative importance of light and nutrient limitation of phytoplankton growth: a simple index of coastal ecosystem sensitivity to nutrient enrichment. Aquat Ecol 33:3–16
Cloern JE (2001) Our evolving conceptual model of the coastal eutrophication problem. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 210:223–253
Cloern JE, Jassby AD (2010) Patterns and scales of phytoplankton variability in estuarine–coastal ecosystems. Estuar Coasts 33:230–241
Cloern JE, Jassby AD, Thompson JK, Hieb KA (2007) A cold phase of the East Pacific triggers new phytoplankton blooms in San Francisco Bay. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104:18561–18565
Conley DJ, Paerl HW, Howarth RW, Boesch DF, Seitzinger SP, Havens KE, Lancelot C, Likens GE (2009) Controlling eutrophication: nitrogen and phosphorus. Science 323:1014–1015
Crossland CJ, Kremer HH, Lindeboom HJ, Marshall Crossland JI, LeTissier MDA (2005) Coastal fluxes in the anthropocene: the land-ocean interactions in the coastal zone project of the international geosphere-biosphere programme. Spriger-Verlag, Berlin
Davidson K, Gowen RJ, Harrison PJ, Fleming LE, Hoagland P, Moschonas G (2014) Anthropogenic nutrients and harmful algae in coastal waters. J Environ Manag 146:206–216
De Jong F (2006) Marine eutrophication in perspective. On the relevance of ecology for environmental policy. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
De Jonge VN, Bakker JF, van Stralen M (1996) Recent changes in the contributions of river Rhine and North Sea to the eutrophication of the Western Dutch Wadden Sea. Neth J Aquat Ecol 30:27–39
De Jonge VN, Postma H (1974) Phosphorus compounds in the Dutch Wadden Sea. Netherland J Sea Res 8:139–153
De Jonge VN, van Beusekom JEE (1995) Wind- and tide-induced resuspension of sediment and microphytobenthos from tidal flats in the Ems estuary. Limnol Oceoanogr 40:766–778
Dentener F, Drevet J, Lamarque J, Bey I, Eickhout B, Fiore AM, Hauglustaine D, Horowitz L, Krol M, Kulshrestha U (2006) Nitrogen and sulfur deposition on regional and global scales: a multimodel evaluation. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 20:GB4003
Diaz RJ, Rosenberg R (2008) Spreading dead zones and consequences for marine ecosystems. Science 321:926–929
Diederich S, Nehls G, van Beusekom JEE, Reise K (2005) Introduced Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) in the northern Wadden Sea: invasion accelerated by warm summers? Helgol Mar Res 59:97–106
Dolch T, Buschbaum C, Reise K (2013) Persisting intertidal seagrass beds in the northern Wadden Sea since the 1930s. J Sea Res 82:134–141
Duce RA, LaRoche J, Altieri K, Arrigo KR, Baker AR, Capone DG, Cornell S, Dentener F, Galloway J, Ganeshram RS, Geider RJ, Jickells T, Kuypers MM, Langlois R, Liss PS, Liu SM, Middelburg JJ, Moore CM, Nickovic S, Oschlies A, Pedersen T, Prospero J, Schlitzer R, Seitzinger S, Sorensen LL, Uematsu M, Ulloa O, Voss M, Ward B, Zamora L (2008) Impacts of atmospheric anthropogenic nitrogen on the open ocean. Science 320:893–897
Dumont E, Harrison J, Kroeze C, Bakker E, Seitzinger S (2005) Global distribution and sources of dissolved inorganic nitrogen export to the coastal zone: results from a spatially explicit, global model. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 19:GB4S02
Duarte C, Conley D, Carstensen J, Sánchez-Camacho M (2009) Return to Neverland: shifting baselines affect eutrophication restoration targets. Estuar Coasts 32:29–36
Føyn E (1968) Biochemical and dynamic circulation of nutrients in the Oslofjord. Helgoländer Meeresun 17:489–495
Folmer E, van Beusekom JEE, Dolch T, Gräwe U, van Katwijk MM, Kolbe K, Philippart CJM (2016) Consensus forecasting of intertidal seagrass habitat in the Wadden Sea. J Appl Ecol 53:1800–1813
Galloway JN, Townsend AR, Erisman JW, Bekunda M, Cai ZC, Freney JR, Martinelli LA, Seitzinger SP, Sutton MA (2008) Transformation of the nitrogen cycle: recent trends, questions, and potential solutions. Science 320:889–892
Gieskes WWC, Kraay GW (1975) The phytoplankton spring bloom in Dutch coastal waters of the North Sea. Neth J Sea Res 9:166–196
Harrison JA, Seitzinger SP, Bouwman AF, Caraco NF, Beusen AHW, Vorosmarty CJ (2005) Dissolved inorganic phosphorus export to the coastal zone: results from a spatially explicit, global model. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 19:GB4S03
Hecky R, Kilham P (1988) Nutrient limitation of phytoplankton in freshwater and marine environments: a review of recent evidence on the effects of enrichment. Limnol Oceanogr 33:796–822
Heisler J, Glibert PM, Burkholder JM, Anderson DM, Cochlan W, Dennison WC, Dortch Q, Gobler CJ, Heil CA, Humphries E, Lewitus A, Magnien R, Marshall HG, Sellner K, Stockwell DA, Stoecker DK, Suddleson M (2008) Eutrophication and harmful algal blooms: a scientific consensus. Harmful Algae 8:3–13
Howarth RW, Billén G, Swaney D, Townsend A, Jaworski N, Lajtha K, Downing JA, Elmgren R, Caraco N, Jordan T, Berendse F, Freney J, Kudeyarov V, Murdoch P, Zhao-Liang Z (1996) Regional nitrogen budgets and riverine N & P fluxes for the drainages to the North Atlantic Ocean: natural and human influences. Biogeochemistry 35:141–180
de Jonge VN, Essink K, Boddeke R (1993) The Dutch Wadden Sea - a changed ecosystem. Hydrobiologia 265:45–71
Keller AA, Oviatt CA, Walker HA, Hawk JD (1999) Predicted impacts of elevated temperature on the magnitude of the winter-spring phytoplankton bloom in temperate coastal waters: a mesocosm study. Limnol Oceanogr 44:344–356
Liu D, Keesing JK, Xing Q, Shi P (2009) World’s largest macroalgal bloom caused by expansion of seaweed aquaculture in China. Mar Pollut Bull 58:888–895
Loebl M, Colijn F, van Beusekom JEE, Baretta-Bekker JG, Lancelot C, Philippart CJM, Rousseau V, Wiltshire KH (2009) Recent patterns in potential phytoplankton limitation along the Northwest European continental coast. J Sea Res 61:34–43
Loebl M, Dolch T, van Beusekom JEE (2007) Annual dynamics of pelagic primary production and respiration in a shallow coastal basin. J Sea Res 58:269–282
Loebl M, van Beusekom JEE, Reise K (2006) Spread of the neophyte Spartina anglica reently enhanced by increasing temperatures? Aquat Ecol 40:315–324
Ly J, Philippart CJ, Kromkamp JC (2014) Phosphorus limitation during a phytoplankton spring bloom in the western Dutch Wadden Sea. J Sea Res 88:109–120
Mee L (2006) Reviving dead zones. Sci Am 295:78–85
Martens P, van Beusekom JEE (2008) Zooplankton response to a warmer northern Wadden Sea. Helgol Mar Res 62:67–75
Miller CB, Wheeler PA (2012) Biological oceanography. Wiley, Hoboken
Nixon SW (1995) Coastal marine eutrophication: a definition, social causes and future concerns. Ophelia 41:199–220
Orth RJ, Carruthers TJB, Dennison WC, Duarte CM, Fourqurean JW, Heck KL, Hughes AR, Kendrick GA, Kenworthy WJ, Olyarnik S, Short FT, Waycott M, Williams SL (2006) A global crisis for seagrass ecosystems. Bioscience 56:987–996
Pearson T, Rosenberg R (1978) Macrobenthic succession in relation to organic enrichment and pollution of marine environment. Oceanogr Mar Biol Ann Rev 16:229–311
Peierls BL, Caraco NF, Pace ML, Cole JJ (1991) Human influence on river nitrogen. Nature 350:386–387
Philippart CJM, Beukema JJ, Cadée GC, Dekker R, Goedhart PW, Iperen JMV, Leopold MF, Herman PMJ (2007) Impact of nutrients on coastal communities. Ecosystems 10:95–118
Postma H, Rommets J (1970) Primary production in the Wadden Sea. Neth J Sea Res 4:470–493
Reise K (1983) Sewage, green algal mats achored by lug-worms, and the effect on Turbullaria and small Polychaeta. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen 36:151–162
Reise K, Herre E, Sturm M (2008) Mudflat biota since the 1930’s: change beyond return? Helgol Mar Res 62:13–22
Reise K, Siebert I (1994) Mass occurrence of green algae in the German Wadden Sea. Deutsche Hydrographische Zeitschrift 1:171–188
Reise K, van Beusekom JEE (2008) Interactive effects of global and regional change on a coastal ecosystem. Helgol Mar Res 62:85–91
Ryther JH (1954) The ecology of phytoplankton blooms in moriches bay and Great South Bay, Long Island, New York. Biol Bull 106:198–209
Seitzinger SP, Harrison JA, Dumont E, Beusen AHW, Bouwman AF (2005) Sources and delivery of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to the coastal zone: an overview of Global Nutrient Export from Watersheds (NEWS) models and their application. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 19:GB4S01
Smetacek V, Cloern JE (2008) On Phytoplankton trends. Science 319:1346–1348
Smetacek V, Zingone A (2013) Green and golden seaweed tides on the rise. Nature 504:84–88
Strasser M (2002) Reduced epibenthic predation on intertidal bivalves after a severe winter in the European Wadden Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 241:113–123
Strasser M, Reinwald T, Reise K (2001) Differential effects of the severe winter 1995/1996 on the intertidal bivalves Mytilus edulis, Cerastoderma edulis and Mya arenaria in the Northern Wadden Sea. Helgoland Marine Res 55:190–197
Topcu D, Behrendt H, Brockmann U, Claussen U (2011) Natural background concentrations of nutrients in the German Bight area (North Sea). Environ Monit Assess 174:361–388
van Bennekom AJ, Gieskes WWC, Tijssen SB (1975) Eutrophication of Dutch coastal waters. Proc R Soc London B 189:359–374
van Bennekom AJ, Wetsteijn FJ (1990) The winter distribution of nutrients in the southern bight of the North Sea (1961–1978) and in the estuaries of the Scheldt and the Rhine/Meuse. Neth J Sea Res 25:75–87
van Beusekom JEE 2006 Eutrophication proxies in the Wadden Sea: regional differences and Background concentrations. In: Laursen K (ed), Monitoring and Assessment in the Wadden Sea. Proceedings from the 11. Scientific Wadden Sea Symposium. National Environmental Research Institute, Esbjerg, Denmark, p 45–51
van Beusekom JEE, Bot P, Carstensen J, Goebel J, Lenhart H, Pätsch J, Petenati T, Raabe T, Reise K, Wetsteijn B 2009a Eutrophication. Thematic Report No. 6. In: Marencic H, de Vlas J (eds), Quality Status Report 2009, Wadden Sea Ecosystem. No 25. Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Group, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
van Beusekom JEE, Loebl M, Martens P (2009b) Distant riverine nutrient supply and local temperature drive the long-term phytoplankton development in a temperate coastal basin. J Sea Res 61:26–33
Vollenweider RA (1968) Scientific fundamentals of eutrophication of lakes and flowing waters, with particular reference to nitrogen and phosphorus as factors in eutrophication, Tech. Rep. DAS/CSI/68.27, OECD, Paris
Wang H, Dai M, Liu J, Kao S-J, Zhang C, Cai W-J, Wang G, Qian W, Zhao M, Sun Z (2016) Eutrophication-driven hypoxia in the East China Sea off the Changjiang Estuary. Environ Sci Technol 50:2255–2263
Witte S, Buschbaum C, van Beusekom JEE, Reise K (2010) Does climatic warming explain why an introduced barnacle finally takes over after a lag of more than 50 years? Biol Invasions 12:3579–3589
Ye N-H, Zhang X-W, Mao Y-Z, Liang C-W, Xu D, Zou J, Zhuang Z-M, Wang Q-Y (2011) ‘Green tides’ are overwhelming the coastline of our blue planet: taking the world’s largest example. Ecol Res 26:477–485
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van Beusekom, J.E.E. (2018). Eutrophication. In: Salomon, M., Markus, T. (eds) Handbook on Marine Environment Protection . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60156-4_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60156-4_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60154-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60156-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)