Pollution of Lakes and Rivers
Chapter 11:
Eutrophication: the environmental
consequences of over-fertilization
Copyright © 2008 by DBS
Contents
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Definition and scope of the problem
Inferring past nutrient levels
The major symptoms of eutrophication
Algal and Cyanobacterial (blue-green algal) blooms
Excessive aquatic macrophyte growth
Deepwater oxygen depletions
Tracking past nutrient changes in rivers by using offshore sediments
Eutrophication of estuaries a long-term history of Chesapeake Bay anoxia
Separating the influence of nutrients from climate on a lake development
Examining the effects of multiple Stressors on Prairie Lakes: a landscape analysis of long-term limnological
change
Impoundment and flooding: changes in trophic status due to reservoir formation
Tracking changes in epilimnetic versus hypolimnetic conditions: an example of spatial decoupling of limnological
processes in different lake strata
Regional assessments of environmental change in lakes and reservoirs: the Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment Program (EMAP)
Extending regional assessments into the future: the value of surface sediments to long-term monitoring programs
The role of macrophytes in lake dynamics: exploring the role of alternate equilibria in shallow lakes
Lake Baikal: tracking recent environmental changes in a unique limnological setting
Atmospheric deposition of nutrients: tracking nitrogen enrichment in seemingly pristine high alpine lakes
Does eutrophication result in increased ecosystem variability and reduced predictability? Nutrient management
using a combination of modeling and sedimentary approaches
Linking evolutionary changes to shifts in trophic status
Some important successes, but many new applications are possible
Eutrophication
Definition and Scope of the Problem
•
•
Nutrient enrichment of water bodies
Most common water-quality issue in the world (Schindler, 2006)
Eutrophication
Definition and Scope of the Problem
Symptoms:
- excessive phytoplankton blooms (e.g. cyanobacteria)
- thick growths of aquatic macrophytes and periphyton
- taste and odor problems
- once this increased biomass dies and settles to the bottom of the water body where
decomposition occurs, oxygen levels may become depleted thus killing off fish and
other animals, releasing phosphorus from the sediments (i.e. internal loading), and a
suite of other problems.
Eutrophication
Definition and Scope of the Problem
Certain cyanobacteria can produce toxins that
render water unsafe (Carmichael, 1994; 1997)
Killed 16 cows on a farm near Baldur,
Manitoba (Canada) in 1996.
Eutrophication
Definition and Scope of the Problem
•
•
•
1960s-1970s causes were unknown
Obviously nutrients but where from?
Which industry?
Vallentyne (1974) warned that
lakes would become “algal bowls”
(cf. dust bowls of 1930’s)
ALGAL BOWL
(2008) edition
Cover
Eutrophication
Definition and Scope of the Problem
Liebig’s Law: under steady state conditions, the growth of an organism is
dependent on the amount of essential material that is available in least
supply
“you are only as strong as your weakest link”
There can be too much…
Shelford’s Law: different organisms can survive
within a range of conditions, but have an ecological
minimum and maximum which represent the limits
of tolerance
Eutrophication
Definition and Scope of the Problem
•
Schindler’s (1974) study gave most
compelling evidence for phosphorus
being the cause of man-made
eutrophication
•
Legislation was later adopted limiting P
in detergents and effluents
fertilized with P, N and C
Basin fertilized with
only C and N
Oliotrophic Experimental Lake
226, NW Ontario (after 2 months)
Eutrophication
Definition and Scope of the Problem
Eutrophication
Definition and Scope of the Problem
•
Dealing with very small amounts of P (μg l-1 or ppb),
also use chlorophyll a and secchi depth
e.g. 4 ppb is a teaspoon of liquid into an Olympic size swimming pool
Pristine oligotrophic US lakes have Total P < 10 ppb, an
increase of 4 ppb is considered a significant addition
Eutrophication
Inferring Past Nutrient Levels
•
•
•
•
Increased supply of limiting nutrients (P and N) is the root cause
Sediment P concentrations controlled by sorption onto Fe oxides – subject
to redox conditions (Engstrom and Wright, 1984)
In anoxic conditions – PO43- returns to water column (“internal loading”)
More indirect biological methods (Hall and Smol, 1999) are used to infer
past nutrient levels (surface-sediment calibration and training sets)
Eutrophication
Tracking the Major Symptoms of Eutrophication
•
•
•
•
Algal blooms - frequency and intensity of animal killing toxins
– Fossil pigment analyses and 15N (records N fixation)
– History records both natural and man-made episodes (Züllig, 1989; Fritz,
1989, Hickman & Schweger, 1991, McGowan et al, 1999)
Macrophyte Growth
– Macrofossils (Birks, 2001), pollen (Sayer et al, 1999)
– Maybe inferred from other bioindicator species
Benthic DO - compared to natural variability
– Hypolimnetic (lower level) anoxia
– BOD is driven by bacterial respiration and decomposition of sedimenting
organic matter (algae)
– “Internal loading” - Sediments release PO43- bound to iron under reducing
conditions
– Distribution of benthic invertebrates used to infer past DO
Biotic Integrity - how ‘pristine’ an environment is
– Ostracods in Lake Erie (Delorme, 1982)
Eutrophication
Tracking Causes and Symptoms
Case studies:
Neolithic and Bronze age - Fritz, 1989; Bradshaw et al, 2005
Native N. Americans - Ekdahl et al, 2007
Prehistoric Thule Inuit whalers - Douglas et al, 2004
Medieval beer industry - de Wolf and Cleveringa, 1999
Great Lakes
St. Lawrence River
Eutrophication
Tracking Causes and Symptoms - The Great Lakes
•
•
Gt. Lakes
– Early exploration and transportation
– Supports industry, fishing transport, energy generation, recreation etc.
– 35 million residents in watershed
History
– 1900s raw sewage lead to typhoid and cholera
– 1930s to present – over fishing, habitat destruction, invasive species
– 1960s – increased urbanization and use of phosphate detergents
algal blooms, rotting algal biomass, anoxia and fish kills
Biotic integrity completely lost –
now a completely different ecosystem
Eutrophication
Tracking Causes and Symptoms - The Great Lakes
Large-scale Ecosystem Disruptions
• Development of these problems were not documented of fully understood
• Stoermer et al (1985) recorded striking changes from Lake Ontario
– 20th century diatom and chrysophyte extirpations
– Introduction of exotic species
– Massive nutrient enrichment
Need images
Eutrophication
Other proxies:
• C and N isotope signatures (δ13C and δ15N) from bulk OM
– differentially fractionated during photosynthesis
– 12C is removed before 13C, 14N before 15N in organic matter
– Remains are enriched in 13C and 15N
Patterns match historical
trend in P loading
N record affected by
multiple sources
Lake Ontario
Schelske and Hodell, 1991; Hodell et al, 1998;
Hodell and Schelske, 1998
Tracking Causes and Symptoms - The Great Lakes
Eutrophication
Tracking Causes and Symptoms - The Great Lakes
Relative Roles of P and SiO2 in Diatom Growth
• Oldest eutrophication data derived from biogenic silica analyses
• Schelske et al (1983) showed peak diatoms
– c. 1820 to 1850 in Lake Ontario
– 1880 in Lake Erie
– 1970 in lake Michigan
• Postulated that silica depletion results from small P enrichment (10 ppb)
• Diatoms grow until all silica is used up
• Replaced by other algal and cyanobacterial populations
Eutrophication
The Great Lakes
Have P reductions had any Effect?
• Point-sources: reduced amount of nutrients entering lakes via:
– Sewage treatment
– Reduction of phosphates in detergents
• Non-point agricultural sources still a problem
•
Lake Ontario – Wolin et al (1991)
– Evidence of reduced P loading, reduced silica depletion
– No reappearance of pre-1935 taxa
Eutrophication
The Great Lakes
Concentration
•
•
Erie - more rapid change
Most eutrophied lake
•
Inc. no. of oligotrophic taxa due
to P reductions
Some taxa have not recovered,
may be extirpated
•
•
Magnitude of changes in recent
sediments due to biotic (zebra
mussels) and abiotic (P reductions)
factors
Frequency
Stoermer et al, 1996
Eutrophication
The Great Lakes
Eutrophication in the St. Lawrence River
• A
Eutrophication
Tracking past Nutrient Changes in Rivers by Using Offshore Sediments
•
•
•
River eutrophication is more difficult to study
Use sediment cores from where the river discharges
Lake flora tracks nutrient input from river
e.g. Reconstruction of river inflow
at Ellesmere Island
(Ludlam et al, 1996)
Mississippi River
(Turner and Rabalais, 1994)
Eutrophication
Eutrophication of Estuaries a Long-term History of Chesapeake Bay Anoxia
•
•
•
•
•
Estuary – semi-enclosed brackish water body connected to sea
Complex sedimentation and resuspension patterns
Cooper, 1995; 1999 and Cooper and Brush 1991; 1993 have tracked
cultural eutrophication in Chesapeake Bay
Debate about natural vs. cultural sources
Multi-proxy analyses:
– Sedimentaton rate
– Pollen
– Diatoms
– Biogenic silica
– Geochemistry
Results: Eutrophication was the result of human activities
not within the realm of natural variability for the bay
Eutrophication
Separating the Influence of Nutrients from Climate on lake Development
•
With any different environmental signals to track it is difficult to pinpoint
most important variable
e.g. climate change and eutrophication
•
Varved lake sediment from hypereutrophic
Baldeggersee (Switzerland)
– Investigate diatom variability year-to-year
and compare to historical phytoplankton
– Compare diatom inferred TP (---) to
measured spring (40 yrs) values (top 15 m)
– Use bioindicator to track eutrophication
– Partition the climate and nutrient signals
using variance Partition Analysis (VPA)
Lotter, 1998
Eutrophication
Examining the Effects of Multiple Stressors on Prairie Lakes
•
•
Due to climate, vegetation, soils, hydrology and other factors lakes have
very different background pre-human conditions
Information is critical to set management strategies and mitigation goals
e.g. Brenner et al (1993) showed that some Florida lakes have been
eutrophic for millenia
Eutrophication
Examining the Effects of Multiple Stressors on Prairie Lakes
•
•
•
•
Prairie lakes of the Qu’Appelle
Valley
– ”bread basket of the world”
Great importance to Canada
WQ is poor and no long-term
records exist
TP > 600 μg l-1 ,
TN > 4000 μg l-1
Management initiatives are
hampered due to inability to
identify and regulate sources
Flow
Diatoms
Eutrophication
…Multiple Stressors on Prairie Lakes
•
Paleolimnological work in temperate
regions has shown most lakes were
ogliotrophic prior to European settlement
Pigments
•
QV lakes were all naturally eutrophic!
– High nutrient indicating diatoms
– Hypoxia and anoxia tolerating chironomids
– algal blooms from pigments
– Naturally fertile catchment supported
Chironomids
by historical texts
•
No amount of mitigation could ever
restore these to oligotrophic status
Hall et al,1999
Eutrophication
Examining the Effects of Multiple Stressors on Prairie Lakes
•
•
•
Data shows that WQ deteriorated with European settlement
Hall collated continuous data for 83 variables from 1890 to 1994 for
Pasqua Lake
Identified significant factors using VPA:
– Resource use (crops and livestock)
– Urbanization (N in sewage)
– Climate (Temp., evaporation, river discharge)
Eutrophication
…Multiple Stressors on Prairie Lakes
•
•
•
•
Dixit et al (2000) compared limnological changes
in Pasqua, Echo, Mission, and Katepwa
(fishing lakes)
Showed all naturally eutrophic
Showed significant urban impacts
Inc. in algal biomass after 1930 of 350 %
Upstream lakes reduce impacts of pointsource nutrients on downstream lakes
A) algal biomass (β-carotene)
B) bloom-forming colonial cyanobacteria (myxoxanthophyll)
C) potentially toxic, N-fixing cyanobacteria (aphanizophyll)
Eutrophication
Impoundment and Flooding: Changes in Trophic Status due to Reservoir
Formation
•
A
Eutrophication
Tracking Changes in Epilimnetic Versus Hypolimnetic Conditions
•
A
Eutrophication
Regional Assessments of Environmental Change in lakes and
Reservoirs
•
A
Eutrophication
Extending Regional Assessments into the Future
•
A
Eutrophication
Extending Regional Assessments into the Future
•
A
Eutrophication
The Role of Macrophytes in Lake Dynamics
•
A
Eutrophication
The Role of Macrophytes in Lake Dynamics
•
A
Eutrophication
The Role of Macrophytes in Lake Dynamics
•
A
Eutrophication
Lake Baikal: Tracking Recent Environmental Changes
•
A
Eutrophication
Atmospheric Deposition of Nutrients
•
A
Eutrophication
Does Eutrophication Result in Increased Ecosystem variability and
Predictability?
•
A
Eutrophication
Nurtrient Managemnt Using Modeling and Sedimentary Approaches
•
A
Eutrophication
Linking Evolutionary Changes to Shifts in Trophic Status
•
A
Eutrophication
Some Important Successes but Many New Applications are Possible
•
A
Eutrophication
Summary
•
A
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Allan and Kenny (1978)
Anderson and Odgaard (1994)
Belis (1997)
Bennion (1995)
Bennion et al (2001)
Boyle (2001)
Bianchi et al (2000)
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Birks (2001)
Bos and Cumming (2003)
Bourbonniere and Meyers (1996)
Borcard, D., Legendre, P. and Drapeau, P. (1992) partially out of the spatial component of
ecological variation. Ecology, Vol. 73, pp. 1045-1055.
Bradshaw and Anderson (2001)
Bradshaw et al (2005)
Brenner, M., Whitmore, T.J., Flannery, M.S. and Binford, M.W. (1993) Paleolimnological
methods for defining target conditions in lake restoration: Florida case studies. Lake and
Reservoir Management, Vol. 7, pp. 209-217.
Broderson et al (2001)
Brooks et al (2001)
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Carignan et al (1994)
Carmichael, W.W. (1994) The toxins of Cyanobacteria. Scientific American, Vol. 270, pp.
78-86.
Carmichael (1997)
Christie and Smol (1996)
Clerk, S.A. (2001) Fossil chironomids as indicators of water quality impacts from
aquaculture activities. MSc Thesis, Queen’s University, Kingston.
Cooper, S.R. (1995) Chesapeke Bay watershed historical land use: Impact on water
quality and diatom communities. Ecological Applications, Vol. 5, pp. 703-723.
Cooper , S.R. (1999) Estuarine paleolimnological reconstructions using diatoms. In
Stoermer, E.F. and Smol, J.P. (eds.), The Diatoms: Applications to the Environmental and
Earth Sciences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cooper (2000)
Cooper, S.R. and Brush, G. (1991) Long-term history of Chesapeake Bay anoxia.
Science, Vol. 254, pp. 992-996.
Cooper , S.R. and Brush , G. (1993) A 2500-year history of anoxia and eutrophication in
Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries, Vol. 16, pp. 617-626.
Cottingham et al (2000)
Cumming et al (1992b)
de Wolf and Cleveringa (1999)
Delorme (1982)
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Detenbeck et al (1993)
Dillon and Rigler (1974)
Dillon et al (1986)
Dixit et al (1999)
Dixit, A.S. et al (2000)
Donar et al (1996)
Douglas and Smol (2000)
Douglas et al (2004)
Ekdahl et al (2007)
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Engstrom, D. and Wright, H.E., Jr (1984) Chemical stratigraphy of lake sediments. In
Haworth, E. and Lund, J. (eds.), Lake Sediments and Environmental History. University of
Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 11-67.
Einarsson et al (1993)
Flower (1998)
Francis (1874)
Fritz (1989)
Gupta et al (1996)
Hall et al (1999a)
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hall , R.I., Leavitt, P.R., Quinlan, R., Dixit, A. and Smol, J.P. (1999b) Effects of agriculture,
urbanization and climate on water quality in the Northern Great Plains. Limnology and
Oceanography, Vol. 44, pp. 739-756.
Hall, R.I. and Smol, J.P. (1999) Diatoms as indicators of lake eutrophication. In: Stoermer,
E.F. and Smol, J.P. (eds.), The Diatoms: Applications for the Environmental and Earth
Sciences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 128-168.
Hecky (1993)
Hickman and Schweger (1991)
Hodell (1991)
Hodell et al (1998)
Hodell , D.and Schelske , C. (1998) Production, sedimentation, and isotopic composition
of organic matter in Lake Ontario. Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 43, pp. 200-214.
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Little and Smol (2001)
Lotter et al (1997b)
Lotter , A.F. (1998) The recent eutrophication of Baldeggersee (Switzerland) as assessed
by fossil diatom assemblages. The Holocene, Vol. 8, pp. 395-405.
Lotter et al (1998)
Ludlam, S., Feeny, S. and Douglas, M.S.V. (1996) Changes in the importance of Iotic and
littoral diatoms in a High Arctic lake over the last 191 years. Journal of Paleolimnology,
Vol. 16, pp. 184-204.
Mackereth, F.J.H. (1966) Some chemical observations on post-glacial lake sediments.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, Vol. 250, pp. 165-213.
Mackay et al (1998)
Marisco et al (1995)
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
McGowan, S., Britton, G., Haworth, E. and Moss, B. (1999) Ancient blue-green blooms.
Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 44, pp. 436-439.
Meyers and Ishiwatari (1993)
Moss (1978)
Moss (1990)
O’Connell et al (1997)
Odgaard and Rasmussen (2001)
Ostrofsky and Duthie (1980)
O’Sullivan (1992)
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Quinlan et al (1998)
Quinlan and Smol (2001)
Raiswell et al (1988)
Reavie et al (1998)
Reavie et al (2002)
Reavie and Smol (1997)
Reavie, E.D. and Smol , J.P. (1999) Epilithic diatoms in the St. Lawrence River and their
relationships to water quality. Canadian Journal of Botany, Vol. 76, pp. 251-257.
Rippey et al (1997)
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sakamoto 91966)
Sayer et al (1999)
Scheffer, M., Hosper, S.H., Meijer, M.-L., Moss, B. and Jeppesen, E. (1993) Alternate
equilibria in shallow lakes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 8, pp. 275-279.
Scheffer et al (1998)
Schelske (1999)
Schelske, C.L., Stoermer, E.F., Conley, D.J., Robbins, J.A. and Glover, R.M. (1983) Early
eutrophication in the lower Great Lakes: New evidence from biogenic silica in sediments.
Science, Vol. 222, pp. 320-322.
Schelske and Hodell (1991)
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
**Schindler , D.W., Falff, J., Welch, H.E., Brunskill, G.J., Kling, H. and Kritsch, N. (1974)
Eutrophication in the High Arctic – Meretta Lake, Cornwallis Island (75 N lat.). Journal of
Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Vol. 31, p. 647-662.
Schindler , D.W. (2006) Recent advances in the understanding and management of
eutrophication. Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 51, pp. 356-363.
Stoermer (1998)
Stoermer, E.F., Wolin, J., Schelske, C.L. and Conley, D. (1985a) An assessment of
ecological changes during the recent history of Lake Ontario based on siliceous algal
microfossils preserved in the sediments. Journal of Phycology, Vol. 21, pp. 257-276.
Stoermer et al (1985b)
Stoermer et al (1985c)
Stoermer, E.F., Emmert, G., Julius, M.L. and Schelske, C.L. (1996) Paleolimnologic
evidence of rapid recent change in Lake Erie’s trophic status. Canadian Journal of
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Vol. 53, pp. 1451-1458.
Thieneman (1921)
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Thoms, M.C., Ogden, R.W. and Reid, M.A. (1999) Establishing the condition of lowland
floodplain rivers: a paleo-ecological approach. Freshwater Biology, Vol. 41, pp. 407-423.
Thornton et al (1990)
Turner and Rabalais (1994)
US EPA (2000)
Vallentyne, J.R. (1974) The algal bowl: lakes and man. Fisheries Research Board of
Canada, Miscellaneous Special Publication, Vol. 22, pp. 1-86.
Verschuren et al (1998)
Vitousek et al (1997)
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Vollenweider (1975)
Walker (2001)
Warwick (1980)
Weider et al (1997)
Wilkinson et al (1999)
Wolin, J.A., Stoermer, E.F. and Schelske, C.L. (1991) Regional changes in Lake Ontario
1981-1987: Microfossil evidence of phosphorus reduction. Journal of Great Lakes
Research, Vol. 17, pp. 229-240.
Wright (1984)
Wolfe, A.P., Baron, J.S. and Cornett, R.J. (2001) Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition
induces rapid ecological change in alpine lakes of the Colorado Front range (U.S.A.).
Journal of Paleolimnology, Vol. 25, pp. 1-7.
Yang et al (1993)
Zhao et al (2006)
Züllig (1989)