Destruction of wetlands linked to algal blooms in Great Lakes

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-07/uow-dow071817.php

Public Release: 19-Jul-2017
Destruction of wetlands linked to algal blooms in Great Lakes
Current protection efforts overlook role of wetlands
University of Waterloo

Canada's current wetland protection efforts have overlooked how the environment naturally protects fresh-water resources from agricultural fertilizer contaminants, researchers from the University of Waterloo have found.

In a recent study, engineering researchers at Waterloo found that small wetlands have a more significant role to play than larger ones in preventing excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer from reaching waterbodies such as the Great Lakes.

Excess nutrients are a primary cause of algal blooms, which have a number of impacts, including impairing drinking water quality, robbing aquatic life of needed oxygen and closing beaches to swimming.

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