Abstract
Eutrophication (nutrient enrichment and subsequent processes) and its adverse ecosystem effects have been discussed as main issues over the last 20 years in international conferences and conventions for the protection of the marine environment such as the North Sea Conferences and the 1992 OSPAR Convention (OSPAR; which combined and updated the 1972 Oslo Convention on dumping waste at the sea and the 1974 Paris Convention on land-based sources of marine pollution). OSPAR committed itself to reduce phosphorus and nitrogen inputs (in the order of 50% compared with 1985) into the marine areas and ‘to combat eutrophication to achieve, by the year 2010, a healthy marine environment where eutrophication does not occur’. Within OSPAR, the Comprehensive Procedure (COMPP) has been developed and used to assess the eutrophication status of the OSPAR maritime area in an harmonised way. This is based on classification in terms of the following types of areas Non-Problem Areas (no effects), Potential Problem Areas (not enough data to assess effects) and Problem Areas (effects due to elevated nutrients and/or due to transboundary transport from adjacent areas). The COMPP consists of a set of harmonised assessment criteria with their area-specific assessment levels and an integrated area classification approach. The criteria cover all aspects of nutrient enrichment (nutrient inputs, concentrations and ratios) as well as possible direct effects (e.g. increased levels of nuisance and/or toxic phytoplankton species, shifts and/or losses of submerged aquatic vegetation) and indirect effects (e.g. oxygen deficiency, changes and/or death of benthos, death of fish, algal toxins). The COMPP also includes supporting environmental factors. It takes account of synergies and harmonisation with the EC Water Framework Directive, and has formed a major basis for the EC eutrophication guidance. Recently, additional components, such as total nitrogen, total phosphorus and transboundary transports have been included in the assessment of, e.g. the German Bight. The second application of the COMPP resulting in an update of the eutrophication status of the OSPAR maritime area will be finalised in 2008, and will include the agreed integrated set of Ecological Quality Objectives (EcoQOs) with respect to eutrophication.
Access provided by Autonomous University of Puebla. Download to read the full chapter text
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bartnicki, J. & H. Fagerli, 2003. Atmospheric supply of nitrogen to the OSPAR Convention Waters, EMEP MSCW Report for OSPAR, EMEP-MSC-W Note 4/2003, Summary Report for UBA, Oslo, ISSN 0332-9879: 42 pp.
Beddig, S., U. Brockmann, W. Dannecker, D. Körner, T. Pohlmann, W. Puls, G. Radach, A. Rebers, H.-J. Rick, M. Schatzmann, H. Schlünzen & M. Schulz, 1997. Nitrogen fluxes in the German Bight. Marine Pollution Bulletin 34: 382–394.
Behrendt, H., M. Bach, R. Kunkel, D. Opitz, W.-G. Pagenkopf, G. Scholz & F. Wendland, 2003. Internationale Harmonisierung der Quantifizierung von Nährstoffeinträgen aus diffusen und punktuellen Quellen in die Oberflächengewässer Deutschlands. UBA-FB 000446, Texte 82/03: 201 pp.
Bricker, S. B., J. G. Ferreira & T. Simas, 2003. An integrated methodology for assessment of estuarine trophic status. Ecology Modelling 169: 39–60.
Butler, E. I., S. Knox & M. I. Liddicoat, 1979. The relationship between inorganic and organic nutrients in sea water. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 59: 239–250.
Cloern, J. E., 2001. Our evolving conceptual model of the coastal eutrophication problem. Marine Ecology Progress Series 210: 223–253.
De Jonge, V. N. & M. Elliott, 2001. Eutrophication. In Steele, J., S. Thorpe & K. Turekian (eds), Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences. Elsevier, Amsterdam: 852–870.
Lohse, L., R. Kloosterhuis, W. van Raaphorst & W. Helder, 1996. Denitrification rates in continental shelf sediments of the North Sea: acetylene block technique versus isotope pairing. Marine Ecology Progress Series 132: 169–179.
Lundberg, C., 2005. Conceptualizing the Baltic Sea Ecosystem: an interdisiplinary tool for environmental decision making. Ambio 34: 433–439.
Mittelstaedt, E., W. Lange, C. Brockmann & K. C. Soetje, 1983. Die Strömungen in der Deutschen Bucht. BSH Map, Nr. 2347: 141 pp.
Nixon, S. W., 1997. Prehistoric nutrient inputs and productivity in Narragansett Bay. Estuaries 20: 253–261.
Postma, H., 1984. Introduction to the symposium on organic matter in the Wadden Sea. Netherlands Institute for Sea Research Publication Series 10: 15–22.
Radach, G., J. Berg & E. Hagmeier, 1990. Long-term changes of the annual cycles of meteorological, hydrographic, nutrient and phytoplankton time series at Helgoland and at LV ELBE 1 in the German Bight. Continental Shelf Research 10: 305–328.
Rendell, A. R., C. J. Ottley, T. D. Jickells & R. M. Harrison, 1993. The atmospheric input of nitrogen species to the North Sea. Tellus 45B: 53–63.
Seitzinger, S. P. & A. E. Giblin, 1996. Estimating denitrification in North Atlantic continental shelf sediments. In Howarth, R. W. (ed.), Nitrogen Cycling in the North Atlantic Ocean and its Watersheds. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht: 235–260.
Smith, V. H., 2006. Responses of estuarine and coastal marine phytoplankton to nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment. Limnology and Oceanography 51: 377–384.
Van Raaphorst, W., V. N. de Jonge, D. Dijkhuizen & B. Frederiks, 2000. Natural background concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen in the Dutch Wadden Sea. RIKZ/2000.013, The Hague: 53 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Claussen, U., Zevenboom, W., Brockmann, U., Topcu, D., Bot, P. (2009). Assessment of the eutrophication status of transitional, coastal and marine waters within OSPAR. In: Andersen, J.H., Conley, D.J. (eds) Eutrophication in Coastal Ecosystems. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 207. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3385-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3385-7_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-3384-0
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-3385-7
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)