Author: Dianneke  van Wijk,   (Wageningen University & Research)

Designation: 

Description:
Climate change, land use change, fertilizer use and other anthropogenic activities exacerbate eutrophication problems. Excess nutrients threaten water quality of aquatic systems throughout catchments, and river export of nutrients leads to coastal eutrophication and the loss of nutrients as a resource. However, biogeochemical nutrient retention processes may mitigate such effects. The natural nutrient retention capacity of water systems has direct links to its ecological state. Moreover, the ecological state strongly depends on nutrient loading. These links are especially pronounced in shallow lakes, known for their multiple self-reinforcing ecological states (submerged plant- vs phytoplankton-dominated). In connected systems, shifts towards a phytoplankton-dominated state through increased nutrient inputs can cause cascading effects throughout a hydrological network, as phytoplankton and their nutrients will be freely transported with the water flow. On the other hand, local shifts towards the - often preferred - submerged plant dominated state can increase nutrient retention and decrease nutrient flows to connected waterbodies, therewith stimulating the occurrence of submerged plants downstream. Managing such a complex set of spatially explicit ecological feedbacks requires a management framework that is specifically aimed at nutrient retention in hydrological networks. Here we will present the concept of Smart Nutrient Retention Networks (SNRNs), a novel management approach for nutrient conservation at a catchment scale.

Category: Scientific Program Abstract > Special Sessions > SS23 Biogeochemical cycling from catchments to coastal waters: processes, models and budgets