AQUATIC BIOLOGY EUTROPHICATION AND THE CLASSIFICATION OF LAKE

This Essay Was Made To Fulfill The Aquatic Biology Task

By : Muhammad Anand Ardhiansyah 10317244003

International Biology Education

BIOLOGY EDUCATION DEPARTEMENT MATHEMATIC AND SCIENCE FACULTY YOGYAKARTA STATE UNIVERSITY 2012

EUTROPHICATION AND THE CLASSIFICATION OF LAKE

By : Muhammad Anand Ardhiansyah

This essay concern to tropic classification of lake and the cause, effect, prevent the eutrophication. Based on the tropic status (total mass of algae in a lake), lake divided in five categories. There are oligotrophic lakes, mesotrophic lakes, eutrophic lakes, hypereutrophic lakes. Oligotrophic lakes commonly called less food and its a deep water. This lake contain very low concentrations of nutrient that require for plant growth. The hipoliminion is bigger than epilimnion and have low productivity (Odum. 1993). These lakes have low alga production, have very clear waters and high drinking water quality. The bottom of this lake have a lot of oxygen, so this lake support many fish species. Mesotrophic lakes are lakes with an intermediate level of productivity, greater than oligotrophic lakes, but less than eutrophic lakes. The concentration of chlorophyll-a is greater, so it will increased alga biomass. These lake are commonly clear water lakes with beds of submerged aquatic plant and medium level of nutrient. Eutrophic lakes are reverse to oligotrophic lakes, eutrophic commonly called rich of food(Odum. 1993) . These lakes has high biological productivity because excessive nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus. These lake are able to support an abudance of aquatic plants or algae. When aquatic plants dominate the water tends to be clear. When algae dominates the water tends to darker. The process of eutrophication can occur naturally and by human activity. Hypereutrophic lakes are very rich with nutrient because the nuisance alga bloom and low transparency. These lakes contain high of phosphorous and chlorophyll-a. Hypereutrophic lakes are the most biologically productive lakes, and support large amounts of plants, fish and other animals. Eutrophication now became a major problem to fresh water biodiversity. Natural eutrophication is the process by which lakes gradually age and become more productive. It occurs due to algae taking a lot of nutrient, mainly phosphorus

and nitrogen from the water to aid an photosynthesis. The problem that arisen is due to excess chemicals from human activity entering the watershed. Such as aries from phosphorus, a common element found mainly in the form of phosphates, Its present in many detergents, human urine, feces, and fertilizer that used by farmer on their land. These phosphates generally end up in watershed, where they provide excess nutrients to algae and aquatic plant.

Picture.1 Show the Pristine Situation

Picture 2. Show Start of Eutrpphication

Picture 3. Show The Extreme Eutrophication

When excess nutrient enter in to ecosystem, the primary producers will get a lot of benefits. Algae will experience a massive increase in population, and it will be alga bloom. Alga bloom resemble a large green mat of sludge that has been draped over the surface of water. These alga blooms are dangerous trait to the marine ecosystem because they will limit the sunlight that reaches bottom that organism live. Plants at the bottom of aquatic environment will not receive sunlight they require for photosynthesis to produce the nutrient that require the plant and nor produce oxygen that require the organism live. In eutrophic conditions the oxygen levels in the ecosystem rapidly ate up after the bottom plant have dead. Microorganism then feed on the dead plant and excess algae, using more oxygen, while no one is being produced. Some alga blooms created by eutrophication are toxic to plants and animals. These blooms can affect the food chain through primary producers, it will harm livestock and humans. Marine mortality has been observed due to toxic alga blooms with the presence of neurotoxin and hepatoxin in livestock. Eutrophication is a process that hard to reverse, as excess phosphorus that leeched into the watershed settles to the bottom oa an aquatic environment. The eutrophic lakes commonly affected since they are major centers of human activity.

Different sources including farmers, detergent, and waste management companies have been decided as the source of excess phosphorous. I have six ideas to solve this eutrophic problem. The first way is fertilization balance, for nitrogen and phosphorus, e.g. ad equation of nutrients supply to the needs of the crop with reasonable expected yields, taking into account soil and atmospheric N supply. The second way is unfertilized grass buffer strips (or broad hedges) along watercourses and ditches. The third way is Precise irrigation management (e.g. drip irrigation, fertilization, soil moisture control). The 4th way is reduction in the use of chemicals based on nitrogen and phosphorus (for example fertilizers, or P-builders in washing powders). The 5th way is advanced treatments of wastewaters before their discharge into the environment. The 6th way is educate the youth in aspect of biodiversity, because the youth are the ones who will carry on the research and provide the knowledge for future generations.

REFFERENCE

Boualam, Marc and Laura Volterra. 2002. Eutrophication and health. Luxembourgh : World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe Maloney, Brent. 2005. Marine Biodiversity : Protist and Eutrophication. Moncton: Bernice MacNaughton Highschool Odum, Eugene. 1993. Fundamentals Of Ecology 3rd Edition. Athens : University of Georgia. http://environment.alberta.ca/01715.html. Accesed March 29th 2012 at 20:30 http://www.mlswa.org/lkclassif1.htm. Accesed March 29th 2012 at 21:00 http://www.envirocentre.ie/includes/documents/Standards03_SI258_Lakriver %20stds.pdf. Accesed March 29th 2012 at 21:150