Municipality does not want sediment pits in Lake Loosdrecht” and “Beach near Texel covered by massive foam layer”. Two examples of statements in which algae growth is a central issue. During the last decades more nutrients from the sewage treatment plant, agriculture and industry are discharged into aquatisch ecosystems than previously. To help understanding these processes and to predict future conditions, a mathematical model, BLOOM, has been developed and applied since 1977. It simulates the biomass and composition of algae in relation to the amount of nutrients, the under water light climate and grazing. In comparison to most other operational primary production models, BLOOM considers a relatively large number of algae species, selected by an alternative competition principle. The model runs fast and can therefore be applied to complex systems for long simulations. It has been applied worldwide to lakes, channel systems, estuaries, lagoons and coastal seas. Recent applications include the Maasvlakte 2 development, analysing the consequences of constructing the storm surge barrier of Venice Lagoon and the environmental impact study on the future of Lake Volkerak Zoom (whether it should remain fresh or converted back to a marine status). Although the model only simulates part of the aquatic ecosystems, results prove to be accurate enough to be valuable for water managers.
Title thesis: "Eco-hydrodynamic modelling of primary production in coastal waters and lakes using BLOOM"