CBSE Class 11-science Answered

Eutrophication is characterized by excessive plant and algal growth due to the increased avalability of one or more limitng growth factors needed for photosynthesis such as sunlight, carbon dioxide and neutrient fertilizers.

For example, fertilizers contain phosphates as additives. The addition of phosphates in water enhances algae growth. such profuse growth of algae, covers the ater surface and reduces the oxygen concentration in water. This leads to anaerobic condition, commonly with accumulation of abnoxious decay and animal death. Thus bloom infested water inhibits the growth of other living organisms in the water body. This process in which nutrient enriched water bodies support a dense plant popuation, which kills animal life by depriving it of oxygen and results in a subsequent loss of biodiversity is known as Eutrophication.