Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential for plants and algae to grow. On page 5, the graphs suggest that increasing the amount of nutrients leads to more algae growth. Algae populations are important to aquatic ecosystems because they are the foundation of the food web and play key roles in the nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon cycles. But what happens if the amount of nutrients in the water continues to increase?
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The excess nutrients contaminating a body of water cause nutrient pollution. When the concentration of nutrients in any body of water keeps increasing, it leads to a process called eutrophication, as shown in video. While this process occurs naturally over time, human activity that increases the amount of nutrient pollution entering the ecosystem can significantly speed up the process.
Click Arrange It to show what you know about the order of events that lead to eutrophication.
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