EESA11H3 Lecture Notes - Eutrophication, Water Cycle, St. Clair River
Document Summary
Main issue of lake erie area of eutrophication, hotspot for enviro canada: west shallow and small, always mixes. No oxygen problems: east very deep, no oxygen depletion, central basin (problem area!!) Eutrophication most happens here; deep enough to get stratified, not deep enough to get oxygen. Once oxygen depletes, have problems with the sediment. Only the top area of this part gets oxygen. Bottom layer of water does not mix with warmer surface water no opportunity for oxygen replenishment from the atmosphere. Human impact on freshwater ecosystems: demotechnic concept: combined effect of the population as well as of production-consumption in a technological sense. Phytoplankton: producers take energy from the sun and nutrients from the water and convert them into food. Largest number of producers in the great lakes = phytoplankton: survive as long as they are near water surface and have proper nutrients. Bloom in the spring when the water is warming up and the most nutrients are available: e. g.