plants), (2) reduction of nutrient use, and (3) nutrient
removal during transport to the sea. All are difficult to
achieve.
No single management control will likely resolve eutrophication problems in an estuary. Indeed, the most successful management strategies include a holistic
environmental approach to reduce nutrient loading. It is
also vital to address population growth and development
in coastal watersheds that have resulted in substantial land
use-land cover changes and recalcitrant ecological
impacts in estuaries. Equally important is the need to
implement best land use management practices in watersheds, preserving open space, initiating restoration efforts,
and educating the public as to how and why these strategies are important and necessary to protect estuarine systems. Establishing total maximum daily loads (TMDLs)
for nutrients may be necessary to remediate eutrophication
in heavily impacted systems.
Eutrophication can severely impair an estuarine
waterbody. If eutrophication problems are not expeditiously addressed in heavily impacted systems, they may
become intractable, and the long-term ecological health
of these systems can be permanently compromised
(Kennish and de Jonge, 2011). Estuaries subjected to
eutrophication through time may exhibit nonlinear recovery trajectories and changes in stable states such that they
cannot return to the original ecosystem condition after the
eutrophic stressor is removed. The net effects of long-term
and progressive eutrophication are often substantially
degraded biotic and habitat components of an estuary.
It is becoming increasingly clear that construction in
coastal watersheds should minimize the creation of impervious surfaces, compacted soils, and sprawl, while concurrently preserving natural vegetation and landscapes that
will assimilate nutrients. This approach will limit the
amount of stormwater and pollution runoff to area waterways. These strategies make sound environmental sense
not only to help remediate nutrient enrichment of estuaries
but also to address other nonpoint source pollution problems that threaten estuarine ecosystem health. Application
of these strategies must proceed even as more assessment
data are being compiled by ongoing research and monitoring efforts to document ecosystem change and to recommend future impact remediation. A well-coordinated and
sustained holistic management plan is critical to improving the ecological condition and resources of eutrophic
estuaries worldwide.
Bibliography
Anderson, I. C., Stanhope, J. W., Hardison, A. K., and McGlathery,
K. J., 2010. Sources and fates of nitrogen in Virginia coastal
bays. In Kennish, M. J., and Paerl, H. W. (eds.), Coastal
Lagoons: Critical Habitats of Environmental Change. Boca
Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis, pp. 43–72.
Anderson, I. C., Brush, M. J., Piehler, M. F., Currin, C. A.,
Stanhope, J. W., Smyth, A. R., Maxey, J. D., and Whitehead,
M. L., 2014. Impacts of climate related drivers on the benthic
nutrient filter in a shallow photic estuary. Estuaries and Coasts,
37(Suppl. 1), S46–S62, doi:10.1007/s12237-013-9665-5.
Anonymous, 2000. Directive 200/60/EC of the European parliament and of the council of 23 October 2000 establishing
a framework for community action in the field of water policy.
Official Journal L 327/1. Ser., 210, 223–253.
Arnold, C. L., and Gibbons, C. J., 1996. Impervious surface coverage: the emergence of a key environmental indicator. Journal of
the American Planning Association, 62, 243–258.
Baker, R. J., Wieben, C. M., Lathrop, R. G., and Nicholson, R. S.,
2013. Concentrations, loads, and yields of total nitrogen in the
Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor Watershed, New Jersey,
1989–2011, at multiple spatial scales. USGS Scientific Investigations Report. West Trenton, NJ: US Geological Survey.
Boesch, D. F., Burroughs, R. H., Baker, J. E., Mason, R. P., Rowe,
C. L., and Siefert, R. L., 2001. Marine pollution in the United
States. Technical Report, Prepared for the Pew Oceans Commission, Arlington, VA.
Bologna, P. A. X., Lathrop, R., Bowers, P. D., and Able, K. W.,
2000. Assessment of the health and distribution of submerged
aquatic vegetation from Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Technical Report, Contribution #2000-11, Institute of Marine and
Coastal Sciences. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.
Boynton, W. R., and Kemp, W. M., 2000. Influence of river flow
and nutrient loads on selected ecosystem processes: a synthesis
of Chesapeake Bay data. In Hobbie, J. E. (ed.), Estuarine Science: A Synthetic Approach to Research and Practice. Washington, DC: Island Press, pp. 269–298.
Bricker S. B., Clement, C. G., Pirhalla, D. E., Orlando, S. P., and
Farrow, D. R. G., 1999. National Estuarine Eutrophication
Assessment: effects of nutrient enrichment in the nation’s estuaries. Technical Report, National Ocean Service. Silver Spring,
MD: Special Projects Office and National Centers for Coastal
Ocean Science.
Bricker, S. B., Longstaff, B., Dennison, W., Jones, A., Boicourt, K.,
Wicks, C. and Woerner, J., 2007. Effects of nutrient enrichment
in the nation’s estuaries: a decade of change. Technical Report,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National
Ocean Service. Silver Spring, MD: Special Projects Office and
the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.
Burkholder, J. M., Tomasko, D. A., and Touchette, B. W., 2007.
Seagrasses and eutrophication. Journal of Experimental Marine
Biology and Ecology, 350, 42–72.
Carruthers, T. J. B., Dennison, W. C., Longstaff, B. J., Waycott, M.,
Abal, E. G., McKenzie, L. J., and Long, W. J. L., 2002. Seagrass
habitats of Northeast Australia: models of key processes and
controls. Bulletin of Marine Science, 71, 1153–1169.
Conley, D. J., Paerl, H. W., Howarth, R. W., Boesch, D. F.,
Seitzinger, S. P., Havens, K. E., Lancelot, C., and Likens,
G. E., 2009. Controlling eutrophication: nitrogen and phosphorus. Science, 323, 1014–1015.
Diaz, R. J., and Rosenberg, R., 1995. Marine benthic hypoxia:
a review of its ecological effects and the behavioral responses
of benthic macrofauna. Oceanography and Marine Biology.
Annual Review, 33, 245–303.
Diaz, R. J., and Rosenberg, R., 2008. Spreading dead zones and
consequences for marine ecosystems. Science, 321, 926–929.
Duarte, C. M., Conley, F. J., Carstensen, J., and Sánchez-Camacho, M.,
2009. Return to Neverland: shifting baselines affect eutrophication
restoration targets. Estuaries and Coasts, 32, 29–36.
Fertig, B. M., Kennish, M. J., and Sakowicz, G. P., 2013. Changing
eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) characteristics in a highly eutrophic
temperate coastal lagoon. Aquatic Botany, 104, 70–79.
Fertig, B., Kennish, M. J., Sakowicz, G. P., and Reynolds, L. K.,
2014. Mind the data gap: identifying and assessing drivers of
changing eutrophication condition. Estuaries and Coasts, 37
(Suppl. 1), S198–S221, doi:10.1007/s1223701397465.
EUTROPHICATION
309
removal during transport to the sea. All are difficult to
achieve.
No single management control will likely resolve eutrophication problems in an estuary. Indeed, the most successful management strategies include a holistic
environmental approach to reduce nutrient loading. It is
also vital to address population growth and development
in coastal watersheds that have resulted in substantial land
use-land cover changes and recalcitrant ecological
impacts in estuaries. Equally important is the need to
implement best land use management practices in watersheds, preserving open space, initiating restoration efforts,
and educating the public as to how and why these strategies are important and necessary to protect estuarine systems. Establishing total maximum daily loads (TMDLs)
for nutrients may be necessary to remediate eutrophication
in heavily impacted systems.
Eutrophication can severely impair an estuarine
waterbody. If eutrophication problems are not expeditiously addressed in heavily impacted systems, they may
become intractable, and the long-term ecological health
of these systems can be permanently compromised
(Kennish and de Jonge, 2011). Estuaries subjected to
eutrophication through time may exhibit nonlinear recovery trajectories and changes in stable states such that they
cannot return to the original ecosystem condition after the
eutrophic stressor is removed. The net effects of long-term
and progressive eutrophication are often substantially
degraded biotic and habitat components of an estuary.
It is becoming increasingly clear that construction in
coastal watersheds should minimize the creation of impervious surfaces, compacted soils, and sprawl, while concurrently preserving natural vegetation and landscapes that
will assimilate nutrients. This approach will limit the
amount of stormwater and pollution runoff to area waterways. These strategies make sound environmental sense
not only to help remediate nutrient enrichment of estuaries
but also to address other nonpoint source pollution problems that threaten estuarine ecosystem health. Application
of these strategies must proceed even as more assessment
data are being compiled by ongoing research and monitoring efforts to document ecosystem change and to recommend future impact remediation. A well-coordinated and
sustained holistic management plan is critical to improving the ecological condition and resources of eutrophic
estuaries worldwide.
Bibliography
Anderson, I. C., Stanhope, J. W., Hardison, A. K., and McGlathery,
K. J., 2010. Sources and fates of nitrogen in Virginia coastal
bays. In Kennish, M. J., and Paerl, H. W. (eds.), Coastal
Lagoons: Critical Habitats of Environmental Change. Boca
Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis, pp. 43–72.
Anderson, I. C., Brush, M. J., Piehler, M. F., Currin, C. A.,
Stanhope, J. W., Smyth, A. R., Maxey, J. D., and Whitehead,
M. L., 2014. Impacts of climate related drivers on the benthic
nutrient filter in a shallow photic estuary. Estuaries and Coasts,
37(Suppl. 1), S46–S62, doi:10.1007/s12237-013-9665-5.
Anonymous, 2000. Directive 200/60/EC of the European parliament and of the council of 23 October 2000 establishing
a framework for community action in the field of water policy.
Official Journal L 327/1. Ser., 210, 223–253.
Arnold, C. L., and Gibbons, C. J., 1996. Impervious surface coverage: the emergence of a key environmental indicator. Journal of
the American Planning Association, 62, 243–258.
Baker, R. J., Wieben, C. M., Lathrop, R. G., and Nicholson, R. S.,
2013. Concentrations, loads, and yields of total nitrogen in the
Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor Watershed, New Jersey,
1989–2011, at multiple spatial scales. USGS Scientific Investigations Report. West Trenton, NJ: US Geological Survey.
Boesch, D. F., Burroughs, R. H., Baker, J. E., Mason, R. P., Rowe,
C. L., and Siefert, R. L., 2001. Marine pollution in the United
States. Technical Report, Prepared for the Pew Oceans Commission, Arlington, VA.
Bologna, P. A. X., Lathrop, R., Bowers, P. D., and Able, K. W.,
2000. Assessment of the health and distribution of submerged
aquatic vegetation from Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Technical Report, Contribution #2000-11, Institute of Marine and
Coastal Sciences. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.
Boynton, W. R., and Kemp, W. M., 2000. Influence of river flow
and nutrient loads on selected ecosystem processes: a synthesis
of Chesapeake Bay data. In Hobbie, J. E. (ed.), Estuarine Science: A Synthetic Approach to Research and Practice. Washington, DC: Island Press, pp. 269–298.
Bricker S. B., Clement, C. G., Pirhalla, D. E., Orlando, S. P., and
Farrow, D. R. G., 1999. National Estuarine Eutrophication
Assessment: effects of nutrient enrichment in the nation’s estuaries. Technical Report, National Ocean Service. Silver Spring,
MD: Special Projects Office and National Centers for Coastal
Ocean Science.
Bricker, S. B., Longstaff, B., Dennison, W., Jones, A., Boicourt, K.,
Wicks, C. and Woerner, J., 2007. Effects of nutrient enrichment
in the nation’s estuaries: a decade of change. Technical Report,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National
Ocean Service. Silver Spring, MD: Special Projects Office and
the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.
Burkholder, J. M., Tomasko, D. A., and Touchette, B. W., 2007.
Seagrasses and eutrophication. Journal of Experimental Marine
Biology and Ecology, 350, 42–72.
Carruthers, T. J. B., Dennison, W. C., Longstaff, B. J., Waycott, M.,
Abal, E. G., McKenzie, L. J., and Long, W. J. L., 2002. Seagrass
habitats of Northeast Australia: models of key processes and
controls. Bulletin of Marine Science, 71, 1153–1169.
Conley, D. J., Paerl, H. W., Howarth, R. W., Boesch, D. F.,
Seitzinger, S. P., Havens, K. E., Lancelot, C., and Likens,
G. E., 2009. Controlling eutrophication: nitrogen and phosphorus. Science, 323, 1014–1015.
Diaz, R. J., and Rosenberg, R., 1995. Marine benthic hypoxia:
a review of its ecological effects and the behavioral responses
of benthic macrofauna. Oceanography and Marine Biology.
Annual Review, 33, 245–303.
Diaz, R. J., and Rosenberg, R., 2008. Spreading dead zones and
consequences for marine ecosystems. Science, 321, 926–929.
Duarte, C. M., Conley, F. J., Carstensen, J., and Sánchez-Camacho, M.,
2009. Return to Neverland: shifting baselines affect eutrophication
restoration targets. Estuaries and Coasts, 32, 29–36.
Fertig, B. M., Kennish, M. J., and Sakowicz, G. P., 2013. Changing
eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) characteristics in a highly eutrophic
temperate coastal lagoon. Aquatic Botany, 104, 70–79.
Fertig, B., Kennish, M. J., Sakowicz, G. P., and Reynolds, L. K.,
2014. Mind the data gap: identifying and assessing drivers of
changing eutrophication condition. Estuaries and Coasts, 37
(Suppl. 1), S198–S221, doi:10.1007/s1223701397465.
EUTROPHICATION
309