EUTROPHICATION – A NEED FOR UNDERSTANDING THE DANGERS FROM AN OLD NEMESIS
Journal
Contributions, Section of Natural, Mathematical and Biotechnical Sciences
Date Issued
2026-02-11
Author(s)
S. Krstić, Svetislav
Aleksovski, Boris
DOI
10.20903/masa/nmbsci.2023.44.31
Abstract
Nutrient enrichment of aquatic environments, or eutrophication in modern terms, is a fundamental primordial
planetary process that enables the proliferation of life in otherwise "sterile" ecosystems. It strongly supports the rapid
expansion of primary producers, most of all – the algae, which initiates the formation of sequenced food chains, leading
to life boosts in specific areas. This so-called ‘natural’ eutrophication has been a driving force for living forms throughout the history of our planet, and may even have been depicted in the Bible. However, the development of human society, including agriculture, industrial and technological expansion, and waste generation, has been the starting point of socalled ‘cultural’ or accelerated eutrophication that poses numerous problems for both the environment and humans.
Based on selected natural and manmade ecosystems in North Macedonia, this paper points out the necessity of understanding and combating the deleterious effect of accelerated eutrophication in all water bodies.
planetary process that enables the proliferation of life in otherwise "sterile" ecosystems. It strongly supports the rapid
expansion of primary producers, most of all – the algae, which initiates the formation of sequenced food chains, leading
to life boosts in specific areas. This so-called ‘natural’ eutrophication has been a driving force for living forms throughout the history of our planet, and may even have been depicted in the Bible. However, the development of human society, including agriculture, industrial and technological expansion, and waste generation, has been the starting point of socalled ‘cultural’ or accelerated eutrophication that poses numerous problems for both the environment and humans.
Based on selected natural and manmade ecosystems in North Macedonia, this paper points out the necessity of understanding and combating the deleterious effect of accelerated eutrophication in all water bodies.