Biomanipulation Biomanipulation Biomanipulation is the deliberate alteration of an ecosystem by adding or removing species, especially predators. Changing the fish population of bodies of water as a part of watershed management can facilitate desirable changes in aquatic ecosystems suffering from eutrophication characterized by domination by phytoplankton aiding ecosystem restoration, an application of restoration ecology. In ponds or lakes alternative stable conditions, one with high algae populations, little other plant life, and turbid water, another with low algae populations, a diverse plant population, and clear water, may exist. In addition to prevention of excess nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrates, removal of
Marine pollution is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters, in which excess nutrients, usually nitrates or phosphates, stimulate algae growth. Many potentially toxic chemicals adhere to tiny particles which are then taken up by plankton and benthic animals, most of which are either deposit feeders or filter feeders. In this way, the toxins are concentrated upward within ocean food chains. Many particles combine chemically in a manner highly depletive of oxygen, causing estuaries to become anoxic. When pesticides are incorporated into the marine ecosystem, they quickly become absorbed into marine food webs. Once in the food webs, these pesticides can