Eutrophication:

Greening the planet

What is eutrophication?
Trophy of a lake refers to the rate at which organic
matter is supplied by or to the lake per unit time
Bob Wetzel, 2001

Eutrophic: Lakes or swamps that are rich in

organic or mineral nutrients and having as a result
an excessive growth of algae and other plants, with
depletion of oxygen and consequent extinction of
animal life. Hence eutrophication, the process of
becoming eutrophic
Oxford English Dictionary

Liebigs law of the minimum

Justus von Liebig

The "Law of the Minimum (1840):

if one crop of the nutritive elements is deficient or lacking, plant
growth will be poor even when all the other elements are
abundant

Sources of nutrients

Biological availability

Vollenweider
Vollenweider developed a statistical relationship between areal annual
phosphorus loading (Lp) to a lake normalized by mean depth (Z) and
hydraulic residence time (T), to predict lake phosphorus concentration:

Vollenweider, R.A., and Kerekes, J. 1982. Eutrophication of waters. Monitoring,

assessment and control. OECD Cooperative programme on monitoring of inland waters
(Eutrophication control), Environment Directorate, OECD, Paris. 154 p.

Vollenweider

Vollenweider

Vollenweider
Trophic category
(mean values)

TP
Chlorophyll a
(g L-1)
(g L-1)

Ultraoligotrophic

Oligotrophic

10

2.5

Mesotrophic

10-35

2.5-8

Eutrophic

35-100

8-25

100

25

Hypereutrophic

Impacts?
Effects of nutrient enrichment on:
Lake sediments
Benthic communities
Phytoplankton communities
Macrophyte communities
Zooplankton communities
Fish communities

Case studies?