Question

An aquatic ecosystem having luxurious growth of cyanobacteria (algal boom) leads to eutrophication.
(a) What kind of pollutants causes algal boom to colonise the aquatic ecosystem?
(b) What are the consequences of eutrophication?

Answer 1

(a) Abundance of the nutrients like phosphate, nitrogen or compounds containing both in the environment which results in the enrichment of an ecosystem like the pond, lake etc. results into eutrophication.

(b) When there is an algal bloom, all the oxygen is used by the algae for respiration and this reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen. This results in the death of the other plants and aquatic animals. The decomposition of these organisms further consumes the oxygen and cause death of the fishes.