Deepening Knowledge of Nutrient Dynamics in Coastal Waters

Abstract

Nutrients are important compounds in waterbodies that regulate primary productivity and phytoplankton growth, the basis of food webs. Increased nutrient concentration has become a serious concern because it causes eutrophication and threatens the sustainability of ecosystems. Eutrophication is the process of nutrient enrichment in water bodies that affects their productivity and decreases water quality. Although information about nutrient distribution, limiting nutrients, and nutrient budgets is important for coastal water management, studies of wide-scale nutrient dynamics in Indonesian waters remain limited. To provide comprehensive data on nutrients, this review summarized the concentrations and compositions of nutrients in coastal waters, compared the limiting nutrients in various coastal waters based on the Redfield ratio, and described the factors affecting nutrient budgets using the database in ScienceDirect and Google Scholar. Curation was performed to summarize the nutrient dynamics in coastal waters. Results showed that nutrient concentration differed in each region due to many factors. Anthropogenic inputs greatly affected nutrients in tropical areas, such as Jakarta Bay (Indonesia). Understanding the quality and characteristics of water can help in managing waterbodies. This study provided knowledge related to nutrient dynamics in Indonesian waters and global biogeochemistry.