Vulnerability - Nutrients

The vulnerability of a wetland to nutrients is dependent on:

• Light availability: in highly turbid, well shaded or deep water, light is the limiting factor in terms of primary production within the water column (i.e. increased nutrient concentrations will have limited or no effect on primary production). However, in clear, unshaded shallow waters it is nutrients that generally limit primary production
• Water residence time, flushing rate and dilution factors all help to determine the vulnerability of a wetland to nutrients. Longer residence times, poor flushing and low dilution results in higher levels of vulnerability as nutrients are in the system for a longer period and therefore more of it can be take up by plants and algae which may result in blooms
• Nutrient bioavailability and speciation: some nutrients, such as dissolved phosphorus, are more readily available for plant uptake than others