Question

What is eutrophication?

Answer 1

Eutrophication is a process that occurs in the lakes where they have enriched with nutrients or the lakes which have excessive nutrients and minerals like nitrogen, phosphate, which induces plants and algae to grow on the lake.

Complete answer:

Eutrophication is also called hypertrophic action, which mainly occurs in the water bodies such as lakes, where the water is excessively enriched with nutrients and minerals so this induces the algae and the plants to grow on the lake.

If this alga and the bacteria growing on the lake dies, there is a bacterial degradation, for their biomass, there is oxygen consumption so that after some days there is depletion oxygen occurs and results in a condition called hypoxia.

The primary limiting factor for the eutrophication is phosphorus, and this phosphorus mainly enters the lake by the erosion of soils, it very tightly adheres in the soil, so in case of any erosion it enters the lakes, and this phosphorus is enough for the rich growth of algae and plants, whereas some researchers say that it is due to nitrites.

If human activities increase the process of natural eutrophication, then it is called cultural eutrophication.

Eutrophication is not good for some species like fishes, because sometimes they cause oxygen depletion, which is dangerous for the local aquatic life.
Eutrophication also decreases the value of lakes, rivers, and other water bodies esthetically, and their water is not good or safe for drinking purposes.

Note: One of the good solutions, in order to stop and as well as to reverse eutrophication in estuaries, is by restoring the shellfish, that are mussels and oyster where they remove nitrogen from the water bodies and they also filter the suspended solids, which may result in a decrease in an algal booming, which in future decreases the anoxic conditions.