Long-term trends in nitrogen loads to Galveston Bay

Nitrogen (N) is essential for estuarine primary production, and under some circumstances a shortage of N can limit photosynthesis. Like most effects, this can be either desirable or undesirable, avoiding excessive growth or limiting essential growth. In addition to playing an important role in primary production, N is affected in many ways by anthropogenic activities. In some estuaries, notable Chesapeake and other bays on the eastern coast, the decision has been made to limit N as well as phosphorus inputs from wastewater and agricultural activities. N inputs are thus important ecologically and also constitute one of the principal tools by which we manage bays, either intentionally as has been the case in the Chesapeake, or less directly as has been the case in Galveston Bay.