PowerPoint Presentation

Nutrient Loading

•Plants need variety of nutrients to grow

•Nitrogen and Phosphorus most important nutrients in aquatic systems

•Eutrophication

–Natural

–Cultural

Sources of nutrient loading into a lake.


	--two very important chemical tests test nutrient levels in the lake
	-two most important nutrients for plant growth in aquatic systems are nitrogen and phosphorus
	--sources;
	--erosion
	--industrial waste water
	--agricultural runoff
	--rain
	--sediment release
	-Eutrophication, or the buildup of nutrients in a body of water, is a natural process taking hundreds of years
	-However, humans can drastically speed up the process of eutrophication
	--algal blooms are a common indicator of cultural eutrophication