Chapter 16. Chapter 16: Water Pollution
What is eutrophication...?
Guiding Question 16.1
What is eutrophication, and how can water pollution like fertilizer or animal waste end up killing aquatic life?
Why You Should Care
Water’s ability to dissolve many chemicals allows it to carry many different types of pollutants. Not all water pollutants are created equal—some are nutrients that occur naturally. These nutrients become pollutants when their concentration becomes too high and stimulates an overgrowth of producers or decomposers—a process called eutrophication (literally, this means “well nourished” and is anything but good for existing food chains).
Today, eutrophication is typically caused by our extensive use of fertilizer on farms and lawns, and by the dense animal wastes from factory farms for animals (chickens, cattle, and pigs). In areas where these nutrients are collected and released into estuaries, the ecosystem changes and becomes less productive and less diverse.
Test Your Vocabulary
Choose the correct term for each of the following definitions:
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| The addition of anything that might degrade the quality of the water. | |
| Water from precipitation that flows over the surface of the land. | |
| A process in which excess nutrients in aquatic ecosystems feed biological productivity, ultimately lowering the oxygen content in the water. | |
| The amount of oxygen in the water. | |
| A situation in which the level of oxygen in the water is inadequate to support life. | |
| A body of water where freshwater rivers meet the sea. | |
| Eroded soil that is washed into the water through runoff. | |
| The amount of oxygen that microbes living in a body of water use. |
1.
Why do algal blooms happen more often in slow-moving surface waters?
| A. |
| B. |
| C. |
| D. |
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