Eutrophication in the Baltic Sea Present Situation, Nutrient Transport Processes, Remedial Strategies

For many years the reduction of eutrophication in the Baltic Sea has been a hot issue for mass-media, science, political parties and environmental action groups with manifold implications related to fisheries (will the Baltic cod survive?), sustainable coastal development (have billions of Euros been wasted on nitrogen reductions?), ecotoxicology (can we safely eat Baltic fish?). This book takes a holistic process-based ecosystem perspective on the eutrophication in the Baltic Sea, with a focus on the factors regulating how the system would respond to changes in nutrient loading. This includes a very special process for the Baltic Sea: land uplift. After being depressed by the glacial ice, the land is now slowly rising adding vast amounts of previously deposited nutrients and clay particles to the system. 110,000 to 140,000 tons of phosphorus per year are added to the system from land uplift, in comparison to the 30,000 tons of phosphorus per year from rivers. The added clay particles function in ways similar to which clay particles of benthonite function in the wine industry: namely as a clarifier. Paradoxically, in spite of the fact that so many nutrients are added to the system from land uplift, the Baltic Sea would have an even higher nutrient concentration than at present, had it not been for the impact of the clay particles from land uplift. These results motivate a major revision of the outlook and understanding of the structure and function of the Baltic Sea ecosystem. The book also presents a remedial strategy aimed at combating eutrophication in the Baltic Sea which challenges the accepted remedial strategy.