5/3/2021

Trophic State and
Eutrophication

Dr Muhammad Arshad

Outline
• Trophic state and Eutrophication
• Why is Nutrient Pollution Resulting in Algal Blooms
in Lakes Important?
• Natural and Cultural Processes of Eutrophication
• Relationships among Nutrients, Water Clarity, and
Phytoplankton:
• Managing Eutrophication in Lakes
• Mitigating Lake Eutrophication
• Control of Nutrient Sources
• Treatment in the Lake
• Macrophyte Removal
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Tropic State
• Trophic state is generally signified by the terms
oligotrophic, mesotrophic and eutrophic.

• Oligo means “few,” trophic means “foods,”

eutrophic means “many foods,” and mesotrophic
falls between these two categories.

• The three categories are only one way to

characterize a continuum of ecosystem
productivity.

Eutrophication
• The process of an ecosystem becoming more 
productive by nutrient enrichment 
stimulating primary production

• Natural eutrophication

• Cultural eutrophication

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Sources of nutrients

• Natural eutrophication
• Watershed disturbances
• Volcanic eruptions/earthquakes
• Forest fires
• Increased erosion

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Cultural eutrophication

• Direct discharge of treated or untreated 
domestic sewage (including phosphate 
detergents)
• Industrial wastes, such as food‐processing 
plants and dairies
• Leaching from fertilizer applied to forests, 
lawns, pastures or cultivated land
• Leaching from failing on‐site sewage 
treatment systems
• Stormwater runoff from urbanized land

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Classification of lakes based on productivity
• Oligotrophic
• Very low production
• Clear lakes – penetration of light  maximum

• Mesotrophic
• Medium production
• Moderate penetration of light

• Eutrophic
• High productivity
• Green lakes – penetration of light  minimum
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Indicator/controlling nutrients
• P limits the primary production in lakes

• Sometimes both N & P are limiting

• Generally, P is indicator.

• For nutrient control – estimations involve 
calculations of P concentrations and 
subsequent algal biomass
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Calculation of in‐lake total [P]
L
• TP = ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Z(ρ + σ)

• TP = total phosphorus (mg m‐3 or g L‐1)
• L = P loading in mg m‐2 year‐1
• z = mean depth (m)
• ρ = flushing rate in year‐1
• σ = sedimentation rate in year‐1, 
approximately equal to 10/z.
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Relationship between summer

levels of chl a and measured total
phosphorus concentration for
143 lakes (Jones and Bachmann,
1976).

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Relationship between volume‐weighted lake‐wide means for TP

and chl a during June–September in Upper Klamath Lake, 1990–
1998 (Welch and Burke, 2001). 13

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Methods for control
Methods Explanation
• Control of cause
• Control of point  • Bans on P in detergents; tertiary sewage 
sources treatment
• Control of non‐ • Control of watershed disturbances; feedlot 
point sources  effluent

• In‐lake control
• Use of low nutrient water to dilute nutrients 
• Dilution and 
and phytoplanktons
flushing
• Keeping O2 in the bottom layers keeps P in 
• Destratification, 
sediments; deeper mixing increases light 
mixing
limitation of phytoplankton

• Hypolimnetic
• Release nutrient‐rich water from hypolimnion
release
(bottom layers of a lake)
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Methods for control
Methods Explanation
• Biomanipulation • Manipulate food web by 
increasing piscivores or 
decreasing planktivores to 
increase numbers of zooplankton 
that graze phytoplankton
• Alum
• Alum seals phosphate in 
hypolimnion; flocculates and 
settles phytoplankton
• Copper 
treatment • Copper kills phytoplankton

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Methods for controlling macrophytes
Method Explanation
• Physical • Dredge or cut out macrophytes

• Chemical • Apply herbicides

• Sealing sediment • Seal sediments with plastic films 
to stop macrophyte
establishment

• Find organisms that specially 
• Biological control graze macrophytes
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Summary
1. Aquatic systems can be classified by trophic state. Eutrophic lakes
are characterized by wide swings in O2 concentration and pH,
anoxia in the hypolimnion, and algal blooms including increased
abundance of cyanobacteria.
2. Lakes can naturally become more eutrophic over thousands of
years. However, cultural (human-caused) eutrophication is
currently far more common.
3. Eutrophication of lakes can lead to taste and odor problems, toxic
algal blooms, fish kills, lowered water clarity, and decreased
property values.
4. Quantitative equations are available to calculate expected
relationships among nutrient loading, nutrient concentration, algal
biomass, and Secchi depth in lakes. These equations are used by
lake managers to make decisions on efforts to alter lake
productivity.
5. Solving eutrophication problems generally requires control of point
sources and non-point sources of nutrients.
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