Central role of macrophytes and shallow near-shore areas in regulating nutrient dynamics and resuspension-driven nutrient loading in the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea (MACECO)

It is of urgent current interest to study the role of the land-water interface and shallow water areas to thoroughly understand the importance of the coastal zone in nutrient dynamics, transport and retention in aquatic ecosystems, as well as to seek multidisciplinary approaches in monitoring and controlling the nutrient loading. In shallow water bodies, such as the coastal and littoral areas, mostly due to the intense sediment-water interface interaction, nutrient dynamics is a continuous process. Multidisciplinary- and holistic-approaches on sediment- and vegetation-bind nutrient retention are lacking, and no studies on the direct effect of shallow coastal and littoral areas on nutrient loading and retention of the Baltic Sea have been conducted. In order to quantify and predict the role of the coastal zone, the land-water interface in transport and retention of nutrients, near-shore littoral areas and shallow coastal waters must be more thoroughly investigated. This land-water interface is an important link between the catchment area and the aquatic ecosystem and in nutrient transport onwards to the deeper water areas.