Publication Abstract

Contrasting approaches to understanding eutrophication effects on phytoplankton - Preface

D.K. Mills and R.J. Gowen

The changes associated with eutrophication are widely perceived to be a serious problem in many coastal areas of the world, which in extreme cases result in deleterious changes to the structure, and function of coastal marine ecosystems. This special issue is devoted to papers arising from an ICES Workshop on New Perspectives in Understanding and Predicting Eutrophication to examine contrasting approaches to understanding eutrophication effects on phytoplankton. The workshop was held in March 2002 at the RIKZ laboratory of the Netherlands Rijkswaterstaat and sponsored jointly with CEFAS, UK. The primary Workshop aim was to evaluate the mass balance vs. organismic approaches to quantify phytoplankton responses to coastal nutrient enrichment. The Workshop was attended by 43 delegates from 15 countries and brought together biologists, chemists and modellers to consider the underlying mechanisms that limit understanding of the eutrophication process and constrain attempts to make robust predictions of the impact of nutrient enrichment on phytoplankton. The papers span a range of topics: case histories, nutrient sources, scaling of indicators of eutrophication, the role of climate and modelling. Details of the meeting including a list of participants and abstracts of the oral papers can be found at www.cefas.co.uk/eutwork.

Reference

D.K. Mills and R.J. Gowen (2005). Contrasting approaches to understanding eutrophication effects on phytoplankton - Preface. Journal of Sea Research, 54(1): 1-2.