Cultural Eutrophication

Measuring the Human Impact on the Health of Our Waters

UIC INC. has the privilege of our equipment being used to measure important data for the findings in From Greenland to green lakes: Cultural eutrophication and the loss of benthic pathways in lakes by:

Yvonne Vadeboncoeur1 and Erik Jeppesen

National Environmental Research Institute, Vejlsøvej 25, DK-8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

M. Jake Vander Zanden

University of Wisconsin, Madison, Center for Limnology, 680 N. Park Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706

Hans-Henrik Schierup

University of Aarhus, Department of Plant Ecology, Nordlandsvej 68, DK-8240 Risskov, Denmark

Kirsten Christoffersen

University of Copenhagen, Helsingørsgade 51, DK-3400, Hillerød, Denmark

David M. Lodge

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556

Here is a summary of their paper:

Imagine a world where the water in our lakes is so polluted that it can no longer support life. This is the reality of cultural eutrophication, a process where human activities cause excessive growth of algae and other plants in lakes. In their paper “From Greenland to green lakes: Cultural eutrophication and the loss of benthic pathways in lakes,” Yvonne Vadeboncoeur and her colleagues investigate how this process affects benthic pathways in lakes.

Eutrophication is when too many nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen enter a lake and cause excessive growth of algae and other plants. This can lead to a decrease in oxygen levels in the water which can harm fish and other aquatic life. The paper “From Greenland to green lakes: Cultural eutrophication and the loss of benthic pathways in lakes” by Yvonne Vadeboncoeur, Erik Jeppesen, M. Jake Vander Zanden, Hans-Henrik Schierup, Kirsten Christoffersen, and David M. Lodge investigates the impact of cultural eutrophication on benthic pathways in lakes.

The study compared the growth of two types of algae (phytoplankton and periphyton) along a gradient of eutrophication in lakes in Greenland, the US, and Denmark. The results showed that as the amount of phosphorus increased in the water, phytoplankton grew more but periphyton grew less. This means that eutrophication causes a shift from periphyton to phytoplankton dominance of primary productivity.

Benthic contributions ranged from 5 to 80% depending on morphometry and littoral habitat composition in lakes with intermediate phosphorus concentrations. Thus, eutrophication was characterized by a switch from benthic to pelagic dominance of primary productivity. Carbon stable isotope analysis showed that the redistribution of primary production entailed a similar shift from periphyton to phytoplankton in the diets of zooben- thos.

Benthic and pelagic habitats were energetically linked through food web interactions, but eutrophication eroded the benthic primary production pathway. The study concludes that eutrophication is characterized by a switch from benthic to pelagic dominance of primary productivity. The paper also highlights the need for long-term ecosystem management to offset persistent effects of eutrophication in human-dominated landscapes.

In conclusion, cultural eutrophication is a serious problem that can have devastating effects on aquatic ecosystems. The paper “From Greenland to green lakes: Cultural eutrophication and the loss of benthic pathways in lakes” by Yvonne Vadeboncoeur and her colleagues provides valuable insights into how this process affects benthic pathways in lakes. By understanding how cultural eutrophication affects aquatic ecosystems, we can take steps to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Once again, here is the link to the original paper: LINK