Eutrophication and restoration in temperate lakes

Eutrophication affects many lakes and reservoirs worldwide. It is caused by excessive amounts of nutrients entering waterbodies from their catchments, mainly due to human activity. The main sources of these nutrients are discharges from industry and wastewater treatment systems, and agricultural run...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science 2020-07, Vol.535 (1), p.12001
Main Authors: May, L, Olszewska, J, Gunn, I D M, Meis, S, Spears, B M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural runoff
Agricultural wastes
Algal blooms
Biodiversity
Catchments
Environmental impact
Environmental quality
Eutrophication
Fisheries
Human influences
Lake restoration
Lakes
Nutrients
Recovery
Restoration
Runoff
Sustainable use
Tourism
Wastewater treatment
Water quality
Water quality management
Water supply
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Summary:Eutrophication affects many lakes and reservoirs worldwide. It is caused by excessive amounts of nutrients entering waterbodies from their catchments, mainly due to human activity. The main sources of these nutrients are discharges from industry and wastewater treatment systems, and agricultural runoff. The water quality problems caused by eutrophication, such as harmful algal blooms, affect the sustainable use of lakes for agriculture, fisheries, recreation, tourism and water supply. They also degrade habitat quality and threaten biodiversity. A range of methods for improving lake water quality are explored, including catchment management and in-lake restoration measures. The potential impacts of these on lake biodiversity are explored, including species interactions and ecosystem feedbacks that may confound the recovery process. A particular challenge is the fact that achieving sustainable recovery may take many years, mainly due to the impact of legacy pollution problems. This must be taken into account when planning and implementing eutrophication management options, because these slow recovery periods can exceed the timescales that people are willing to accept. While this review focuses on the many well documented studies of restoration and recovery processes in temperate lakes, it also highlights the need for similar research on tropical and sub-tropical systems.
ISSN:1755-1307
1755-1315
DOI:10.1088/1755-1315/535/1/012001