Nutrient Retention: Phosphorus and Nitrogen.:

Fluvial ecosystems are open systems exposed to a continuous input of particulate and dissolved material from the drainage basin. Part of this material is processed by organisms and another part can be retained by various physical and chemical mechanisms. The intrinsic ability of river ecosystems to capture, store, or even remove inorganic nutrients is called nutrient retention.

Nitrogen and phosphorus are considered the main macronutrients limiting the productivity of aquatic ecosystems. Phosphorus is an essential element of great ecological interest due to its important role in biological metabolism. Some of its most important functions include, among others, being a structural component of energy-carrying molecules, and of numerous essential coenzymes and phospholipids. However, the presence of excess phosphorus can drastically modify the characteristics of a watercourse and can lead to its eutrophication, causing problems for both human health and ecosystems. In other words, changes in phosphorus levels can lead to changes in species abundance and diversity in water courses.

On the other hand, the nitrogen cycle in aquatic ecosystems is a microbial process, where bacterial oxidation and reduction of nitrogen compounds are associated with photosynthetic assimilation and utilization by algae and aquatic plants.

Human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, the planting of nitrogen-fixing crops, the use of fertilizers and the elimination of wastewater lead to the increase of nitrogen in rivers and streams, generating problems such as eutrophication and the reduction of biodiversity, which decreases the health of the ecosystem and leads to the loss of ecosystem goods and services.

Having forests adjacent to water sources allow filtering nutrients and sediments that come from extra-riparian environments. Likewise, wetlands serve to control the entry of these nutrients from agricultural and urban systems to aquatic systems, since depending on biogeochemical processes they act as sinks or transformers of nutrients.

WaterProof analyzes the presence of phosphorus and nitrogen from water sources to determine the costs associated with drinking water treatment and health risks.

Eutrophication

It is the excessive enrichment of nutrients in an aquatic ecosystem that contains Nitrogen and Phosphorus, where an uncontrolled proliferation of phytoplankton algae is evidenced, which generates an increase in biomass and an impoverishment of diversity.

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