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Articles on Fertilizer runoff

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The cut flowers could pay for themselves and even turn a profit. Margi Rentis

Flowers grown floating on polluted waterways can help clean up nutrient runoff and turn a profit

Phosphorus and nitrogen contribute to water pollution and cause harmful algal blooms. New research shows how mats of floating flower beds can take advantage of these nutrients while cleaning the water.
Tampa Bay’s sea grass meadows need sunlight to thrive. Algae blooms block that light and can be toxic to marine life. Joe Whalen Caulerpa/Tampa Bay Estuary Program via Unsplash

Water being pumped into Tampa Bay could cause a massive algae bloom, putting fragile manatee and fish habitats at risk

Harmful algae blooms are an increasing problem in Florida. Once nutrients are in the water to fuel them, little can be done to stop the growth, and the results can be devastating for marine life.
A harmful algal bloom in the western basin of Lake Erie in August 2017. (NOAA/Aerial Associates Photography, Inc. by Zachary Haslick/flickr)

Great Lakes waters at risk from buried contaminants and new threats

The Great Lakes contain reservoirs of legacy contaminants, mostly in their sediments, that are vulnerable to resuspension.
Nice to see you: parrotfishes prey on seaweed, which consume seaweeds that can outcompete, smother or even poison corals. Corinne Fuchs

How fish and clean water can protect coral reefs from warming oceans

A combination of factors – pollution, disease and overfishing – is harming corals but scientists have found clues to effective treatment by studying corals’ microbiome.

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