Groundwater-dependent ecosystems face a greater threat of pollution. In many cases groundwater can become polluted through toxins, or even just excessive amounts of certain nutrients seeping down to the water table. This polluting of the groundwater can have many different effects on the related ecosystems in the case of an estuary in Cape Cod it was noted that an influx of new nitrogen had come from septic tank fields in the groundwater’s flow path. Increased levels of nitrogen in aquatic ecosystems can cause eutrophication which is the process of excessive introduction of nutrients causing an abundance of plant growth which can result
Plant nutrition Plant nutrition Plant nutrition is the study of the chemical elements and compounds necessary for plant growth, plant metabolism and their external supply. In 1972, Emanuel Epstein defined two criteria for an element to be essential for plant growth: This is in accordance with Justus von Liebig's law of the minimum. The essential plant nutrients include carbon, oxygen and hydrogen which are absorbed from the air, whereas other nutrients including nitrogen are typically obtained from the soil (exceptions include some parasitic or carnivorous plants). There are seventeen most important nutrients for plants. Plants must obtain the following mineral nutrients from