Science Supporting Management of Eutrophication: Lessons Learned from a Barrier Island Lagoon

  • 9,871

    Total downloads

  • 61k

    Total views and downloads

Submit your idea

Select the journal/section where you want your idea to be submitted:

Submit your manuscript summarySubmit your manuscript

About this Research Topic

Submission deadlines

  1. Manuscript Submission Deadline 22 October 2024 | Manuscript Extension Submission Deadline 30 June 2025

Background

For decades, the Indian River Lagoon, an Estuary of National Significance, has been impaired by excessive loads of nitrogen and phosphorus. While addressing this impairment, conditions changed dramatically. A “superbloom” of phytoplankton generated concentrations of chlorophyll-a that were ~2x higher than 99% of the values recorded in a 15-year period of record (over 100 µg/L), and concentrations > 30 µg/L persisted for 5 -7 months rather than ≤ 3 months. Subsequent blooms of brown tide and mixed phytoplankters yielded concentrations of chlorophyll-a up to 200 µg/L and concentrations > 30 µg/L for 11 -13 months. Seagrass, the chosen indicator of ecosystem health, had been expanding, but its footprint was reduced by over 50% when the light regime was degraded by repeated blooms. A series of studies elucidated factors that initiated and sustained the superbloom, evaluated its ecological effects, tracked subsequent blooms, and explored the possibility of a regime shift.

This Research Topic strives to improve the translation of science into management by synthesizing key results and generating lessons for managers and scientists concerned about eutrophication of estuaries. The topic documents a legacy of impairment similar to many estuaries. It deals with an estuary near one end of the spectrum, with long residence times, tight benthic-pelagic coupling, and multiple pathways for nutrient loading making it diverse, productive, and vulnerable. Lessons for managers and scientists include the need to retain a focus on nutrients leading to increased concentrations of chlorophyll-a, the importance of cycling of nutrients, the value in providing scope for events that deviate from average conditions, the effects of internal loads of nutrients from fine sediments and groundwater, the role of drift algae in cycling of nutrients, how the physiology of key phytoplankton can determine responses to nitrogen to phosphorus ratios and ratios of organic to inorganic nutrients, and the logistics involved in sustainable, large-scale restoration of seagrasses and filter feeders to promote recovery of the system.

Themes to be addressed in this Research Topic include a description of the Indian River Lagoon as an example of a vulnerable estuary; a history of anthropogenic activities and natural events; documentation of the quantity and composition of external, internal, and legacy loads to the system; spatiotemporal trends in phytoplankton, seagrasses, and drift macroalgae, the key primary producers; bottom-up and top-down controls of blooms including characteristics of key species of phytoplankton that obviate those controls; flow-on effects of multiple harmful algal blooms; causes of the initial and subsequent harmful algal blooms; evaluation of the likely future for the lagoon; and lessons learned regarding effective management of eutrophication in a vulnerable system and the science needed to support it.

Authors of Type-A articles accepted for publication can request to have publication costs partially discounted by the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) Council, which is serving as a sponsor of the Research Topic. Questions and requests related to publications costs should be submitted to Charles Jacoby (cjacoby@sjrwmd.com).
This Research Topic is editorially independent of the IRL Council and follows the usual peer-review standards and procedures of Frontiers in Marine Science.

The Topic Editors Charles Jacoby, Edward Phlips, Kevin Johnson, Dennis Hanisak, Duane De Freese and Valerie Paul declare that they have collaborated on projects addressing the Indian River Lagoon and hereby confirm their objectivity.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

  • Brief Research Report
  • Community Case Study
  • Data Report
  • Editorial
  • General Commentary
  • Hypothesis and Theory
  • Methods
  • Mini Review
  • Opinion

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

  • Brief Research Report
  • Community Case Study
  • Data Report
  • Editorial
  • General Commentary
  • Hypothesis and Theory
  • Methods
  • Mini Review
  • Opinion
  • Original Research
  • Perspective
  • Policy and Practice Reviews
  • Policy Brief
  • Review
  • Systematic Review
  • Technology and Code

Keywords: harmful algal blooms, regime shift, ecosystem change, collaborative science, Indian River Lagoon

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

Topic editors

Frequently asked questions

  • Frontiers' Research Topics are collaborative hubs built around an emerging theme.Defined, managed, and led by renowned researchers, they bring communities together around a shared area of interest to stimulate collaboration and innovation.

    Unlike section journals, which serve established specialty communities, Research Topics are pioneer hubs, responding to the evolving scientific landscape and catering to new communities.

  • The goal of Frontiers' publishing program is to empower research communities to actively steer the course of scientific publishing. Our program was implemented as a three-part unit with fixed field journals, flexible specialty sections, and dynamically emerging Research Topics, connecting communities of different sizes and maturity.

    Research Topics originate from the scientific community. Many of our Research Topics are suggested by existing editorial board members who have identified critical challenges or areas of interest in their field.

  • As an editor, Research Topics will help you build your journal, as well as your community, around emerging, cutting-edge research. As research trailblazers, Research Topics attract high-quality submissions from leading experts all over the world.

    A thriving Research Topic can potentially evolve into a new specialty section if there is sustained interest and a growing community around it.

  • Each Research Topic must be approved by the specialty chief editor, and it falls under the editorial oversight of our editorial boards, supported by our in-house research integrity team. The same standards and rigorous peer review processes apply to articles published as part of a Research Topic as for any other article we publish.

    In 2023, 80% of the Research Topics we published were edited or co-edited by our editorial board members, who are already familiar with their journal's scope, ethos, and publishing model. All other topics are guest edited by leaders in their field, each vetted and formally approved by the specialty chief editor.

  • Publishing your article within a Research Topic with other related articles increases its discoverability and visibility, which can lead to more views, downloads, and citations. Research Topics grow dynamically as more published articles are added, causing frequent revisiting, and further visibility.

    As Research Topics are multidisciplinary, they are cross-listed in several fields and section journals – increasing your reach even more and giving you the chance to expand your network and collaborate with researchers in different fields, all focusing on expanding knowledge around the same important topic.

    Our larger Research Topics are also converted into ebooks and receive social media promotion from our digital marketing team.

     

  • Frontiers offers multiple article types, but it will depend on the field and section journals in which the Research Topic will be featured. The available article types for a Research Topic will appear in the drop-down menu during the submission process.

    Check available article types here 

  • Yes, we would love to hear your ideas for a topic. Most of our Research Topics are community-led and suggested by researchers in the field. Our in-house editorial team will contact you to talk about your idea and whether you’d like to edit the topic. If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. 

    Suggest your topic here 

  • A team of guest editors (called topic editors) lead their Research Topic. This editorial team oversees the entire process, from the initial topic proposal to calls for participation, the peer review, and final publications.

    The team may also include topic coordinators, who help the topic editors send calls for participation, liaise with topic editors on abstracts, and support contributing authors. In some cases, they can also be assigned as reviewers.

  • As a topic editor (TE), you will take the lead on all editorial decisions for the Research Topic, starting with defining its scope. This allows you to curate research around a topic that interests you, bring together different perspectives from leading researchers across different fields and shape the future of your field. 

     

    You will choose your team of co-editors, curate a list of potential authors, send calls for participation and oversee the peer review process, accepting or recommending rejection for each manuscript submitted.

  • As a topic editor, you're supported at every stage by our in-house team. You will be assigned a single point of contact to help you on both editorial and technical matters. Your topic is managed through our user-friendly online platform, and the peer review process is supported by our industry-first AI review assistant (AIRA).

  • If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. This provides you with valuable editorial experience, improving your ability to critically evaluate research articles and enhancing your understanding of the quality standards and requirements for scientific publishing, as well as the opportunity to discover new research in your field, and expand your professional network.

  • Yes, certificates can be issued on request. We are happy to provide a certificate for your contribution to editing a successful Research Topic.

  • Research Topics thrive on collaboration and their multi-disciplinary approach around emerging, cutting-edge themes, attract leading researchers from all over the world.

  • As a topic editor, you can set the timeline for your Research Topic, and we will work with you at your pace. Typically, Research Topics are online and open for submissions within a few weeks and remain open for participation for 6 – 12 months. Individual articles within a Research Topic are published as soon as they are ready.

    Find out more about our Research Topics

  • Our fee support program ensures that all articles that pass peer review, including those published in Research Topics, can benefit from open access – regardless of the author's field or funding situation.

    Authors and institutions with insufficient funding can apply for a discount on their publishing fees. A fee support application form is available on our website.

  • In line with our mission to promote healthy lives on a healthy planet, we do not provide printed materials. All our articles and ebooks are available under a CC-BY license, so you can share and print copies.

     

Participating Journals

Manuscripts can be submitted to this Research Topic via the main journal or any other participating journal.

Submit your idea

Select the journal/section where you want your idea to be submitted:

Submit your manuscript summarySubmit your manuscript

Impact

  • 61kTopic views
  • 48kArticle views
  • 9,871Article downloads
View impact