• Serves as a model for researchers for what phenomena to observe in aquatic ecology
• Summarizes the progression of naturally eutrophic systems to hypereutrophic ones
• Presents new findings on the impact of nutrient loading and phytoplankton blooms - both seasonal and interannual effects on community structure and secondary producers
• Provides a review of the nature of nutrient loading on the eutrophication process
• Compares - for the first time - quantitative, species-specific phytoplankton community changes over an 11-year period relative to various nutrient loading regimes

Derived from an unprecedented research effort covering over 31 years in a series of studies of 7 major river-estuaries, Eutrophication Processes in Coastal Systems presents a comprehensive and current review of the nature of the eutrophication process and how short- and long-term nutrient loading affects marine systems. This unique book is the culmination of the most advanced research to date on how coastal systems work.

Based on an 11 year interdisciplinary study of the Perdido Bay System, Dr. Robert J. Livingston's groundbreaking work offers evidence for significant findings such as:

• Nutrient concentration gradients in fresh water as it entered the bay were stimulatory to phytoplankton blooms
• Species that showed distinctive seasonal and interannual successions dominated plankton blooms
• High relative dominance of bloom species was associated with significant reduction of phytoplankton species richness and diversity
• The blooms were associated with major reductions of infaunal and epibenthic macroinvertibrates, forcing a serious disruption of the food webs and losses of secondary production

Eutrophication Processes in Coastal Ecosystems goes beyond its innovative analyses of how estuarine and coastal systems have responded to fundamental alterations of the eutrophication process. Dr. Livingston's book presents the case that bloom impacts must be reviewed against the background conditions that include periodic changes brought on by drought and anthropogenous dredging. It points to the critical need for further study of phytoplankton communities and the connection between plankton blooms, sediment deterioration, and low secondary production.

Contents

1. Introduction
   • Eutrophication Processes
   • Aspects of Excessive Nutrient Loading
   • Plankton Response to Nutrient Loading
   • Phytoplankton Blooms and the HAB Concept
   • Natural History of HABs
   • Phytoplankton as Indicators of Water Quality
   • Food Web Response to Nutrient Loading

2. Northeast Gulf of Mexico
   • Physiography
   • Regional Geology
   • Climate
   • River Flow
   • Tides
   • Aquatic Habitats

3. Primary Study Sites
   • Apalachee Bay (Econfina and Fenholloway River-Estuaries)
   • Apalachicola River and Bay System
   • The Choctawhatchee River and Bay System
   • The Pensacola River and Bay System
   • The Perdido River and Bay System

4. The Perdido Bay System: Eutrophication Processes and Plankton Blooms
   • Introduction
   • River Flow Trends
   • Nutrient Dynamics
   • Sediment Quality
   • Water Quality: Spatial/Temporal Trends
   • Long-Term Phytoplankton Trends In Perdido Bay

5. Effects of Blooms on Secondary Production
   • Introduction
   • Bay-wide Trends of Invertebrates and Fishes

6. Comparison of Gulf Coastal Systems
   • Habitat Conditions
   • Salinity Stratification and Habitat Deterioration
   • Nutrient Loading and Nutrient Concentrations
   • Water Quality
   • Sediment Comparisons
   • Phytoplankton Organization
   • Food Web Response to Plankton
   • Organization

7. Restoration, Research and Regulation
   • Restoration of the Perdido System
   • "Ecosystem" Research
   • Information, Regulatory "Action", and Political Control

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