From nitrogen enrichment to oxygen depletion: a mechanistic model of coastal marine ecosystems response

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Nitrogen (N) emissions from anthropogenic sources may enrich coastal waters and lead to marine eutrophication impacts. Processes describing N-limited primary production (PP), zooplankton grazing, and bacterial respiration of sinking organic carbon, were modelled to quantify the potential dissolved oxygen (DO) consumption as a function of N input. Such indicator is the basis for an eXposure Factor (XF) applied in Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) to estimate impacts from N enrichment. The Large Marine Ecosystems (LME) biogeographical classification system was adopted to address the spatial variation of the modelled parameters and to characterise spatially differentiated N-emissions. Preliminary XF results range from 0.5 kgO2·kgN-1 in the Central Arctic Ocean to 16 kgO2·kgN-1 in the Baltic Sea, out of a total of 66 LME-dependent XFs. All the relevant processes were included in a mechanistic model and the uncertainty of the driving parameters is considered low. The presented XF estimation method contributes with a central component for site-dependent characterization factors (CFs) for marine eutrophication, to be coupled with environmental fate of N emissions and effects of oxygen depletion on biota.