What we mean when we talk about: Estuarine Nutrient Enrichment

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Michaela Compo / NPS Photo

Text Description for Infographic

Background

Estuary: a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with a free connection to the open sea.
Nutrient Enrichment: describes an influx of nutrients into a waterway, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, which leads to excessive growth of algae, also known as primary production.

What happens?

Agents of change, such as:
atmospheric deposition, septic systems, and development/fertilizer
increase stresses, like
nutrient loading
that drives
light limitation & hypoxia/anoxia
which cause ecosystem responses, including:
algal production
that leads to...
waterbird change benthos change nekton change

Indicating Factors:

Light: the portion of the light spectrum utilized by plants for photosynthesis (photosynthetically available radiation).
Temperature: measure of the kinetic energy of water, varying by depth, residence time, weather, tides, & time of day.
Eelgrass: measures of eelgrass distribution and condition are used to indicate changes in estuarine ecosystems.
Turbidity: measure of relative clarity of water measured as the amount of light scattered by material (algae, clay, etc.)
Dissolved Oxygen: measure of how much oxygen is dissolved in the water and is available to living aquatic organisms.
Salinity: concentration of salt dissolved in water, measured using a ratio of salt (grams) to water (liters)
primary pigment of photosynthesis, used as a measure of the amount of phytoplankton in the water column.