Nutrient and Eutrophication in Danish Marine Waters
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS Gunni Ærtebjerg, Jesper H. Andersen & Ole S. Hansen Editors Ministry of the Environment Danish Environmental Protection Agency & National Environmental Research Institute NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS . RESPONSES AND ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT 85 (Blank page) NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS 2 NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS . BACKGROUND, DEFINITION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS . BACKGROUND, DEFINITION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS 3 (Blank page) NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS A CHALLENGE FOR SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT Gunni Ærtebjerg, Jesper H. Andersen & Ole S. Hansen Editors Ministry of the Environment Danish Environmental Protection Agency & National Environmental Research Institute 4 NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS . BACKGROUND, DEFINITION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS . BACKGROUND, DEFINITION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS 5 PREFACE Nutrients and Eutrophication in Danish Marine Waters The objective of this assessment report The assessment focuses on factors and A Challenge for Science and Management is to describe and document the effects parameters that cause, control or re- and degree of nutrient enrichment and spond to eutrophication. Special atten- Edited by Ærtebjerg, G., Andersen, J.H. & Hansen, O.S. eutrophication status in all Danish ma- tion is put on ecological status and rine waters by addressing the follow- temporal trends. Seasonal variations National Environmental Research Institute © ing questions: and more system-orientated descrip- • What is nutrient enrichment and tions of the fluxes and turnover of ISBN: 89-7772-728-2 eutrophication? nutrients have been mitigated. The • What are the causes and actual assessment is not a comprehensive See data sheet on page 126 for details. effects? assessment of the health of the marine • Temporal trends: what is natural environment in Denmark or a text- variation and what is due to hu- book in marine ecology. The assess- man activities? ment is more or less an extended sum- • What has been done so far in Den- mary of more than 13 years of moni- mark to reduce eutrophication in toring and subsequent production of Danish marine waters? different assessments reports on the • How can the fi ndings be used and state of the marine environment within transformed into an informed the framework of the Danish National management strategy? Monitoring and Assessment Pro- gramme (1988-2003). The assessment is written in order to fulfi l the Danish obligations in relation CHAPTER 1 to the OSPAR Common Procedure. How- presents background information, de- ever, the assessment covers not only fi nitions and descriptions of the cause- the OSPAR areas: the North Sea, Ska- effect relationships as well as a brief gerrak and Kattegat, but all Danish reference to the Danish National Moni- marine waters, including the transi- toring and Assessment Programme, tional waters (the Sound and Belt Sea) which is the major source of data for between the Kattegat and the Baltic this assessment. Sea, as well as the western parts of the Baltic Sea. This is because: CHAPTER 2 1) the outfl ow from the Baltic Sea has includes the technical and scientifi c a large infl uence on the Kattegat – assessment of the eutrophication Belt Sea ecosystems, and status of the Danish marine waters 2) the eutrophic state and develop- and is structured according to the ment of the Kattegat and Belt Sea principles and guidelines adopted by runs in parallel and is interrelated. OSPAR. Focus is on the state of the 2 NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS . BACKGROUND, DEFINITION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS . BACKGROUND, DEFINITION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS 3 CONTENTS marine waters compared to the eco- waters and discusses possible future Preface ............................................................................ 3 logical quality objectives. The tempo- actions. Contents ......................................................................... 5 ral trend is also addressed, both with respect to the observed data and in- The assessment includes a glossary 1 Background, defi nition, causes and effects ........7 dices corrected for variations in cli- and a list of acronyms in order to reach 1.1 Defi nition ........................................................................ 8 mate (run-off, temperature, insola- readers without a professional back- 1.2 Causes........................................................................... 10 tion etc.). ground in marine ecology or oceano- 1.3 Effects and consequences .............................................. 12 graphy. CHAPTER 3 2 Technical-scientifi c assessment .........................19 describes existing national strategies Suggestions for further reading as 2.1 Climate.......................................................................... 24 and measures implemented to abate well as links to relevant web-sites on 2.2 Hydrography.................................................................. 26 nutrient enrichment and eutrophica- eutrophication and the health of the 2.3 Inputs from land-based sources, tion. marine environment can be found at the atmosphere and adjacent seas ................................. 28 the end of the report. 2.4 Nutrient concentrations, nutrient CHAPTER 4 ratios and nutrient limitation.......................................... 36 summarises the fi ndings of sections 1, A map of Danish marine waters men- 2.5 Phytoplankton and harmful algal blooms....................... 46 2 and 3, assesses the overall eutrophi- tioned in the assessment can be found 2.6 Zooplankton.................................................................. 54 cation status of the Danish marine at page 122. 2.7 Oxygen depletion.......................................................... 58 2.8 Degradation of organic matter in estuarine sediments ....... 62 2.9 Submerged aquatic vegetation...................................... 68 2.10 Soft-bottom macrozoobenthos ...................................... 76 2.11 Fish kills in coastal waters .............................................. 80 3 Responses and adaptive management ............85 3.1 Principles ....................................................................... 86 3.2 Nutrient reduction strategies in Denmark....................... 88 3.3 International co-operation to abate marine eutrophication ................................................... 96 4 Summary, conclusions and the future............101 Glossary and abbreviations ......................................... 111 Where can I read more?............................................... 116 List of contributors....................................................... 117 References................................................................... 118 Annexes ...................................................................... 123 4 NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS . BACKGROUND, DEFINITION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS . BACKGROUND, DEFINITION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS 5 BACKGROUND, DEFINITION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS For more than 30 years, nutrient en- discharged or transported to the sea All people in richment has been one of the major their inherent characteristics as plant Denmark have threats to the health of marine ecosys- nutrients affect and modify the struc- less than 55 km tems and resources (Ryther & Dunstan ture and function of the ecosystem. The to the sea. 1971, Danish EPA 1984, Nixon 1995, response to nutrient enrichment is Elmgren 2001). When nutrients are called eutrophication. 1 Photo: CDanmark Photo: NERI/Peter Bondo Christensen Photo: NERI/Jan Damgaard 6 NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS . BACKGROUND, DEFINITION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS NUTRIENTS AND EUTROPHICATION IN DANISH MARINE WATERS . BACKGROUND, DEFINITION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS 7 & Jørgensen point out that when we water and to the quality of the water DEFINITION speak of eutrophication it is cultural concerned” (EU 1991). The Nitrates 1.1 eutrophication or that, which is caused Directives defi nition is almost identi- by anthropogenic activities, which is cal, except that it is restricted to eutro- of interest. phication from agriculture (EU 1991). The defi nition of eutrophication by The differences between the vari- OSPAR is: “Eutrophication means the ous definitions leave the definition enrichment of water by nutrients caus- open for interpretation. However, this ing an accelerated growth of algae and is not critical, as long as there is a Eelgrass covered higher form of plant life to produce an common understanding of the effects with fi lamentous undesirable disturbance to the balance and agreement upon the acceptable green algae, of organisms present in the water and levels of deviations from a healthy a sign of nutrient to the quality of the water concerned, marine environment. Eutrophication enrichment. and therefore refers to the undesirable should be seen both as a process and effects resulting from anthropogenic as a continuum, since the background enrichment by nutrients” (OSPAR values may vary from area to area due 1998). A number of EU Directives also to natural causes. For example, the defi nes eutrophication. In the Urban productivity in the open Baltic Sea is Wastewater Treatment Directive eu- relatively low compared to the south- trophication