Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures (Jan 2023)
Persistent eutrophication and hypoxia in the coastal ocean
- Minhan Dai,
- Yangyang Zhao,
- Fei Chai,
- Mingru Chen,
- Nengwang Chen,
- Yimin Chen,
- Danyang Cheng,
- Jianping Gan,
- Dabo Guan,
- Yuanyuan Hong,
- Jialu Huang,
- Yanting Lee,
- Kenneth Mei Yee Leung,
- Phaik Eem Lim,
- Senjie Lin,
- Xin Lin,
- Xin Liu,
- Zhiqiang Liu,
- Ya-Wei Luo,
- Feifei Meng,
- Chalermrat Sangmanee,
- Yuan Shen,
- Khanittha Uthaipan,
- Wan Izatul Asma Wan Talaat,
- Xianhui Sean Wan,
- Cong Wang,
- Dazhi Wang,
- Guizhi Wang,
- Shanlin Wang,
- Yanmin Wang,
- Yuntao Wang,
- Zhe Wang,
- Zhixuan Wang,
- Yanping Xu,
- Jin-Yu Terence Yang,
- Yan Yang,
- Moriaki Yasuhara,
- Dan Yu,
- Jianmin Yu,
- Liuqian Yu,
- Zengkai Zhang,
- Zhouling Zhang
Affiliations
- Minhan Dai
- ORCiD
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China Fujian Institute for Sustainable Oceans, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Yangyang Zhao
- ORCiD
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Fei Chai
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Mingru Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China China-ASEAN College of Marine Sciences, Xiamen University Malaysia, Sepang, Malaysia
- Nengwang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of The Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Coastal Ecology and Environmental Studies, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Yimin Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Danyang Cheng
- Department of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Institute for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- Jianping Gan
- Thrust of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Ocean Science, and Department of Mathematics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
- Dabo Guan
- Department of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Institute for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- Yuanyuan Hong
- School of Biological Sciences, Area of Ecology and Biodiversity, Swire Institute of Marine Science, Institute for Climate and Carbon Neutrality, Musketeers Foundation Institute of Data Science, and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Jialu Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Yanting Lee
- Fujian Institute for Sustainable Oceans, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Kenneth Mei Yee Leung
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution and Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Phaik Eem Lim
- Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Senjie Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Groton, CT, USA
- Xin Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Xin Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of The Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Zhiqiang Liu
- Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
- Ya-Wei Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Feifei Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Chalermrat Sangmanee
- Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Institute, Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Bangkok, Thailand
- Yuan Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Khanittha Uthaipan
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Wan Izatul Asma Wan Talaat
- Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
- Xianhui Sean Wan
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
- Cong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Dazhi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of The Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Guizhi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Shanlin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Yanmin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Yuntao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China
- Zhe Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Zhixuan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Yanping Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Jin-Yu Terence Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Yan Yang
- ORCiD
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Moriaki Yasuhara
- School of Biological Sciences, Area of Ecology and Biodiversity, Swire Institute of Marine Science, Institute for Climate and Carbon Neutrality, Musketeers Foundation Institute of Data Science, and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Dan Yu
- College of The Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Coastal Ecology and Environmental Studies, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Jianmin Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China
- Liuqian Yu
- Thrust of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Ocean Science, and Department of Mathematics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
- Zengkai Zhang
- College of The Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- Zhouling Zhang
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1017/cft.2023.7
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 1
Abstract
Coastal eutrophication and hypoxia remain a persistent environmental crisis despite the great efforts to reduce nutrient loading and mitigate associated environmental damages. Symptoms of this crisis have appeared to spread rapidly, reaching developing countries in Asia with emergences in Southern America and Africa. The pace of changes and the underlying drivers remain not so clear. To address the gap, we review the up-to-date status and mechanisms of eutrophication and hypoxia in global coastal oceans, upon which we examine the trajectories of changes over the 40 years or longer in six model coastal systems with varying socio-economic development statuses and different levels and histories of eutrophication. Although these coastal systems share common features of eutrophication, site-specific characteristics are also substantial, depending on the regional environmental setting and level of social-economic development along with policy implementation and management. Nevertheless, ecosystem recovery generally needs greater reduction in pressures compared to that initiated degradation and becomes less feasible to achieve past norms with a longer time anthropogenic pressures on the ecosystems. While the qualitative causality between drivers and consequences is well established, quantitative attribution of these drivers to eutrophication and hypoxia remains difficult especially when we consider the social economic drivers because the changes in coastal ecosystems are subject to multiple influences and the cause–effect relationship is often non-linear. Such relationships are further complicated by climate changes that have been accelerating over the past few decades. The knowledge gaps that limit our quantitative and mechanistic understanding of the human-coastal ocean nexus are identified, which is essential for science-based policy making. Recognizing lessons from past management practices, we advocate for a better, more efficient indexing system of coastal eutrophication and an advanced regional earth system modeling framework with optimal modules of human dimensions to facilitate the development and evaluation of effective policy and restoration actions.
Keywords