Ecological effect of Eutrophication

As already described in the previous post eutrophication is a process in which nutrients in the water increase and speed up the normal growth of algae and plants. This process can cause some ecological problems.

1. Decrease biodiversity

When any aquatic environment is enriched with nutrients by any means either natural or anthropogenic. This condition becomes in the favor of primary producers. Plants and algae use these nutrients and increase their population(algal bloom) in a short period. A time comes when the population reaches to position that does not allow the sunlight to pass through it. The benthic organism does not receive enough amount of sunlight as well and the amount of oxygen reduces due to a reduction in the photosynthesis process. When the amount of oxygen reduces in the water body the animals in the water suffocate and ultimately die which reduces the biodiversity of the system.

2. Increase in water toxicity

In a eutrophic environment, some algae are toxic to both plants and animals. When algal blooms in water bodies the toxic algae cause toxicity in the water body. Some of the algal blooms are toxic to humans as well and cause neurotoxic, paralytic, etc.

3. Invasion of new species

When a waterbody is enriched with some nutrients the exotic species that survive on that nutrient invade the system and disrupt the ecological system. For example, if there is a deficiency of nitrate in an aquatic ecosystem and suddenly the system is enriched with nitrate by some means the competitive species invade the system and start growing there which affects the growth of the native species.