A new model released this week by UConn ecologist Jamie Vaudrey pinpoints sources of nitrogen pollution along Long Island Sound, and shows municipalities what they might do to alleviate it. Vaudrey presented her research Feb. 19 at the AAAS annual meeting in Boston.
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by Connecticut to the north, New York City to the west, and Long Island to the south. The Sound is home to dozens of species of birds, 170 species of fish, and more than 1,200 species of invertebrates. Historically it has supported rich recreational and commercial fisheries for lobster, oysters, blue crabs, scallops, striped bass, flounder, and bluefish.
A new model released this week by UConn ecologist Jamie Vaudrey pinpoints sources of nitrogen pollution along Long Island Sound, and shows municipalities what they might do to alleviate it. Vaudrey presented her research Feb. 19 at the AAAS annual meeting in Boston.
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by Connecticut to the north, New York City to the west, and Long Island to the south. The Sound is home to dozens of species of birds, 170 species of fish, and more than 1,200 species of invertebrates. Historically it has supported rich recreational and commercial fisheries for lobster, oysters, blue crabs, scallops, striped bass, flounder, and bluefish.
In recent decades however, those fisheries have suffered from excess nitrogen in the water. The extra nitrogen feeds seaweed and algae blooms that use up oxygen, killing fish, and changing the ecology in ways that make it less suited to shellfish. This is called eutrophication.
But the nitrogen pollution – and subsequent fish kills and habitat degradation – isn’t distributed evenly throughout Long Island Sound. There are 116 rivers, estuaries, harbors, and bays along Long Island Sound, and the amount of nitrogen runoff varies enormously from one to another. Major sources of nitrogen include septic tanks and sewers, fertilizer from lawns and parks, agricultural practices, and atmospheric deposition from dust, rain, and snow.
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Seaweed collected by reaching down to the bottom and pulling up the rake. The branching red seaweed and the amount collected in just one pass indicate that a large amount of nutrients are fertilizing the growth of seaweed in this bay. A UConn ecologist has identified specific sources of nitrogen pollution along Long Island Sound, and shows municipalities what they can do to alleviate it. (Jamie Vaudrey / UConn Photo)
