Classification of Eutrophication

Environmentalists classify Eutrophication based on its root causes.

1. Anthropogenic Eutrophication

Eutrophication caused by human activities is called anthropogenic eutrophication. Agriculture fields, nurseries farms, and lawns are supplied with nutrients. These nutrients(fertilizers) are run by water and finally, find their routes to the water body. When such nutrients reach the water body they improve the growth of algae and Plankton and cause eutrophication.
As the human population increases the demand for agriculture and industries increases which directly causes eutrophication in the form of agricultural runoff and industrial sewage and indirectly increases in the form of soil erosion when a forest cover area is transformed into agricultural land. For agriculture expansion deforestation leads to soil erosion and the nutrients in the soil are transferred to water bodies like rivers and lakes.
Domestic sewage and industrial sewage are the other key factors that are the cause of eutrophication.

2. Natural Eutrophication

The excessive enrichment of water bodies with nutrients like phosphate and nitrate in water through natural processes is natural eutrophication. For example when nutrient from the soil is washed away to the water body. These nutrients increase the growth of algae and plankton.
The natural process is much slower than the anthropogenic. Its impact is also much weaker than anthropogenic. It mostly depends on environmental temperature.

Effects of Eutrophication

The major effects of eutrophication are on aquatic bodies including change or reduce biodiversity, make the water body toxic, and variation in number of species. Apart from these effects the some important effects are listed below.

1. In eutrophication plankton grow much faster. These plankton are toxic and inedible.
2. In eutropic water body the biomass of the epiphytic and benthic algae is much high.
3. Variation occur in species composition of aquatic plants and the biomass.
4. It reduce the transparency of water.
5. It change the color of water and produce bad smell like rotten egg.
6. It make the water treatment labrous and expensive.
7. It deplete the disolve oxygen in water.
8. Due to depletion of disolve oxygen death of fish and other aquatic species occur.
9. It reduce the biodiversity as well as the productivity of water body.
10. It lower the aesthetic value of water body and make them useless for every kind of activities like boating, fishing, and recreation.

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