Eutrophication of US Freshwaters: Analysis of Potential Economic Damages
Eutrophication of US Freshwaters: Analysis of Potential Economic Damages
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DOI：
10.1021/es801217q
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发表时间：
2009-01-01
影响因子：
11.4
通讯作者：
Thornbrugh, Darren J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Dodds, Walter K.;Bouska, Wes W.;Thornbrugh, Darren J.
人类引起的富营养化通过降低水质和改变生态系统结构和功能，使世界各地的淡水系统退化。我们比较了目前的总氮（TN）和磷（TP）的浓度为美国环境保护局营养生态区与估计的参考条件。在所有的营养生态区，目前的中位数TN和TP值的河流和湖泊超过参考中位数值。在14个生态区中的12个生态区中，目前超过90%的河流超过参考中位数。我们计算了娱乐用水、滨水真实的房地产、受威胁和濒危物种恢复支出以及饮用水的潜在年度价值损失。由于美国淡水的富营养化，每年的总成本约为22亿美元。最大的经济损失归因于湖滨房地产价值（每年3 - 28亿美元，尽管这一数字受到很大限制）和娱乐用途（每年3.7 - 11.6亿美元）。我们的评估可能低估了淡水富营养化造成的经济损失。我们记录了潜在的成本，以确定在哪里恢复自然养分制度可以有最大的经济效益。我们的研究揭示了当前记录中的差距（例如，计算藻类大量繁殖和鱼类死亡的频率），并建议有必要进行进一步研究，以完善成本估算。
Human-induced eutrophication degrades freshwater systems worldwide by reducing water quality and altering ecosystem structure and function. We compared current total nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) concentrations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency nutrient ecoregions with estimated reference conditions. In all nutrient ecoregions, current median TN and TP values for rivers and lakes exceeded reference median values. In 12 of 14 ecoregions, over 90% of rivers currently exceed reference median values. We calculated potential annual value losses in recreational water usage, waterfront real estate, spending on recovery of threatened and endangered species, and drinking water. The combined costs were approximately $2.2 billion annually as a result of eutrophication in U.S. freshwaters. The greatest economic losses were attributed to lakefront property values ($0.3-2.8 billion per year, although this number was poorly constrained) and recreational use ($0.37-1.16 billion per year). Our evaluation likely underestimates economic losses incurred from freshwater eutrophication. We document potential costs to identify where restoring natural nutrient regimes can have the greatest economic benefits. Our research exposes gaps in current records (e.g., accounting for frequency of algal blooms and fish kills) and suggests further research is necessary to refine cost estimates.