Nutrients

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-019246",
  "term": "Nutrients",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "1. Refers to the \"food\" that plants need in order to grow. Examples include nitrogen and phosphorus. Too many nutrients in the water can cause problems in an estuary, such as hypoxia.\n\n2. Any substance assimilated by living things that promotes growth. Elements or compounds essential as raw materials for organism growth and development; for example, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorus. The term is generally applied to nitrogen and phosphorus in wastewater.\n\n3. Chemicals that plants and animals need to grow and survive but, in excess amounts, can harm aquatic environments. Elevated levels of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus are the main cause of poor water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.\n\n4. Substances such as nitrogen and phosphorus compounds necessary for growth and survival. Elevated levels can cause unwanted growth of algae, and can result in the lowering of the amount of oxygen in the water when the algae die and decay.\n\n5. Substances such as nitrogen and phosphorus that can over-stimulate the growth of algae and other plants in water. Nutrients in streams and lakes can come from agricultural and urban runoff, leaking septic systems, sewage discharges and similar sources.\n\n6. Major elements (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorus) and trace elements (including sulfur, potassium, calcium, and magnesium) that are essential for the growth of organisms.\n\n7. Chemical elements and compounds found in the environment that plants and animals need to grow and survive. Nutrients include compounds of nitrogen (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, organic nitrogen) and phosphorus (orthophosphate and others), both natural and man-made.\n\n8. Nutrients are any substance, like nitrogen and phosphorus, assimilated by living things that promote growth. Nitrogen and/or Phosphorus (nutrients) in excessive amounts can cause aquatic plants and microbes to grow too fast, choking waterways, causing potentially harmful algae blooms, and creating low oxygen conditions that can harm fish and other aquatic life.\n\n9. Substances that organisms need to live and grow.\n\n10. A substance required for plant or animal growth. The primary nutrients required by plants are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The primary nutrients required by animals are carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.\n\n11. Elements or compounds essential as raw materials for organism growth and development, such as carbon, nitrogren, phosphorus, etc.",
  "subject": "Water",
  "references": [
    "Estuaries Glossary",
    "Aquatic Biodiversity Glossary",
    "Chesapeake Bay Glossary",
    "Contaminated Sediments Glossary & Acronyms",
    "Wadeable Streams Assessment Glossary of Terms",
    "Glossary of Technical Terms: Office of Underground Storage Tanks",
    "NPDES Permit Writers Manual Glossary",
    "How's My Waterway Glossary",
    "Pest Patrol Glossary",
    "AgSTAR Handbook Glossary",
    "Nonpoint Pollution Source from Agriculture Glossary"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/nutrients/"
}