Evidence of Large-Scale Chronic Eutrophication in the Great Barrier Reef: Quantification of Chlorophyll a Thresholds for Sustaining Coral Reef Communities

Long-term monitoring data show that hard coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has reduced by >70 % over the past century. Although authorities and many marine scientists were in denial for many years, it is now widely accepted that this reduction is largely attributable to the chronic state of eutrophication that exists throughout most of the GBR. Some reefs in the far northern GBR where the annual mean chlorophyll a (Chl a) is in the lower range of the proposed Eutrophication Threshold Concentration for Chl a (~0.2–0.3 mg m⁻³) show little or no evidence of degradation over the past century. However, the available evidence suggests that coral diseases and the crown-of-thorns starfish will proliferate in such waters and hence the mandated eutrophication Trigger values for Chl a (~0.4–0.45 mg m⁻³) will need to be decreased to ~0.2 mg m⁻³ for sustaining coral reef communities.     

Managing agricultural phosphorus for water quality: Lessons from the USA and China

The accelerated eutrophication of freshwaters and to a lesser extent some coastal waters is primarily driven by phosphorus （P） inputs. While efforts to identify and limit point source inputs of P to surface waters have seen some success, nonpoint sources remain difficult to identify, target, and remediate. As further improvements in wastewater treatment technologies becomes increasingly costly, attention has focused more on nonpoint source reduction, particularly the role of agriculture. This attention was heightened over the last 10 to 20 years by a number of highly visible cases of nutrient-related water quality degradation; including the Lake Taihu, Baltic Sea, Chesapeake Bay, and Gulf of Mexico. Thus, there has been a shift to targeted management of critical sources of P loss. In both the U.S. and China, there has been an intensification of agricultural production systems in certain areas concentrate large amounts of nutrients in excess of local crop and forage needs, which has increased the potential for P loss from these areas. To address this, innovative technologies are emerging that recycle water P back to land as fertilizer. For example, in the watershed of Lake Taihu, China one of the largest surface fresh waters for drinking water supply in China, local governments have encouraged innovation and various technical trials to harvest harmful algal blooms and use them for bio-gas, agricultural fertilizers, and biofuel production. In any country, however, the economics of remediation will remain a key limitation to substantial changes in agricultural production.     

沈阳辉山水库水质污染现状分析及评价

根据《地表水环境质量评价办法》中规定的方法,对沈阳辉山水库进行了水质和富营养化状态评价,并对污染源和水质污染特性进行了分析。结果显示:水库水质类别为劣Ⅴ类,水质状况为重度污染。富营养化综合营养状态指数为34.44,辉山水库水质为中营养化水平,水库没有藻类水华的产生。水库主要污染指标为总磷、总氮和悬浮物,分别超出国家地表水Ⅲ类标准的14.2倍、5.85倍和2.72倍。整个库区水质变化不均匀,水质变化受库区沿岸污染物排放影响较大,辉山明渠上游和某工厂暗渠排污口输入是水库主要污染源,库区周围动迁后的荒地和蚯蚓养殖,是辉山水库地面径流和农业污染污染源。     

固城湖水环境污染状况与来源分析

对2001~2011年固城湖水环境污染状况评价与时空变化特征分析的基础上,探讨了固城湖的特征污染物及污染来源。结果表明,固城湖水质污染的主要超标因子为TN和TP;总体水质呈现先恶化再改善的趋势,污染由拦河网水域向小湖区水域扩散;固城湖湖体水质基本上劣于水环境功能区划要求;固城湖特征污染物为COD+M n、NH4-N、TN、TP、BOD 5;富营养化程度不断加重,之后又有所改善;氮磷污染的主要来源是水产养殖污染。     

Confronting limitations: new solutions required for urban water management in Kunming City

Despite continuous investment and various efforts to control pollution, urban water environments are worsening in large parts of the developing world. In order to reveal potential constraints and limitations of current practices of urban water management and to stimulate proactive intervention, we conducted a material flow analysis of the urban water system in Kunming City. The results demonstrate that the current efficiency of wastewater treatment is only around 25% and the emission of total phosphorous from the city into its receiving water, Dianchi Lake, is more than 25 times higher than its estimated tolerance. With regard to the crisis of water quantity and quality, the goal of a sustainable urban water environment cannot be attained with the current problem-solving approach in the region due to the technical limitations of the conventional urban drainage and treatment systems. A set of strategies is therefore proposed. The urban drainage system in Zurich is used as a reference for a potential best-available technology for conventional urban water management (BAT) scenario in terms of its low combined frequency of sewer overflow.     

MEAD: an interdisciplinary study of the marine effects of atmospheric deposition in the Kattegat

This paper summarises the results of the EU funded MEAD project, an interdisciplinary study of the effects of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on the Kattegat Sea between Denmark and Sweden. The study considers emissions of reactive nitrogen gases, their transport, transformations, deposition and effects on algal growth together with management options to reduce these effects. We conclude that atmospheric deposition is an important source of fixed nitrogen to the region particularly in summer, when nitrogen is the limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growth, and contributes to the overall eutrophication pressures in this region. However, we also conclude that it is unlikely that atmospheric deposition can, on its own, induce algal blooms in this region. A reduction of atmospheric nitrogen loads to this region will require strategies to reduce emissions of ammonia from local agriculture and Europe wide reductions in nitrous oxide emissions.     

Eutrophication of Buttermilk Bay,a cape cod coastal embayment: Concentrations of nutrients and watershed nutrient budgets

Nutrient concentrations in Buttermilk Bay, a coastal embayment on the northern end of Buzzards Bay, MA, are higher in the nearshore where salinities are lower. This pattern suggests that freshwater sources may contribute significantly to nutrient inputs into Buttermilk Bay. To evaluate the relative importance of the various sources we estimated inputs of nutrients by each major source into the watershed and into the bay itself. Septic systems contributed about 40% of the nitrogen and phosphorus entering the watershed, with precipitation and fertilizer use adding the remainder. Groundwater transported over 85% of the nitrogen and 75% of the phosphorus entering the bay. Most nutrients entering the watershed failed to reach the bay; uptake by forests, soils, denitrification, and adsorption intercepted two-thirds of the nitrogen and nine-tenths of the phosphorus that entered the watershed. The nutrients that did reach the bay most likely originated from subsoil injections into groundwater by septic tanks, plus some leaching of fertilizers.Buttermilk Bay water has relatively low nutrient concentrations, probably because of uptake of nutrients by macrophytes and because of relatively rapid tidal flushing. Annual budgets of nutrients entering the watershed showed a low nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio of 6, but passage of nutrients through the watershed raised N/P to 23, probably because of adsorption of PO₄ during transit. The N/P ratio of water that leaves the watershed and presumably enters the bay is probably high enough to maintain active growth of nitrogenlimited coastal producers. There is a seasonal shift in N/P in the water column of Buttermilk Bay. N/P exceeded the 161 Redfield ratio during midwinter; the remainder of the year N/P fell below 161. This suggests that annual budgets do not provide sufficiently detailed data with which to interpret nutrient-limitation of producers. Further, some idea of water turnover is also needed to evaluate impact of loading rates. Urbanization of watersheds seems to increase loadings to nearshore environments, and to shift the nutrient loadings delivered to coastal waters to relatively high N-to-P ratios, potentially stimulating growth of nitrogen-limited primary producers.     

湖泊富营养化评价的Euclid贴近度评价法──兼与《湖泊营养状态的Hamming贴近度评价法》作者商榷

针对湖泊富营养状态Ｈａｍｍｉｎｇ贴近度评价模型存在的“阈值漂移”问题,重新构造了评价参数隶属函数,提出了一种湖泊营养状态Ｅｕｃｌｉｄ贴近度评价模型,经过对全国２３个湖泊富营养状态的实例分析,证明这种评价模型结构合理,评价过程简单,模型通用性好。     

长江中下游地区地下水中铅元素的背景特征及其形成

根据调查结果，研究了长江中下游地区地下水铅元素的背景特征及其分布规律，并分析了地下水的含水介质成分，氧化还原环境，径流条件及酸碱度对铅元素的分布的影响。     

白龟山水库富营养化与热污染研究（Ⅰ）

对平原浅水型大型水库的富营养化特征和水平作了深入研究,特别对标志富营养化的浮游藻类、浮游动物及底栖动物等作了模拟试验和现场验证,对加速白龟山水库富营养化的诱导因素作了详细探讨。