DIAS Event: 'Landscape, nitrogen and eutrophication of Danish waters' by Stiig Markager

We live in anthropocene. Human activities dominate all aspects of biogeochemistry on the planet. Particular for nitrogen this is visible in our coastal waters, where we witness a collapse of the ecosystem. The reason for this is decades with elevated nutrient loadings in combination with overfishing and climate change. Today, the only significant human source of nutrients is our industrial production of animals. Every second, 1.3 pigs are born in Denmark, and we are among the most intensively farmed nations in the world with about 63 percent farmland. Currently, a ‘Green deal’ is under implementation, that will change our landscape significantly over the coming years. The aim is to reduce farmland by 15 percent, and most likely 20 to 25 percent. Nitrogen loadings will be reduced by 1/3 and over the next 100 years we can hope that our coastal ecosystems are restored.

​​​​​​​In the lecture, I will present the mechanisms for eutrophication and other press factors on the sea, the development since year 1900, and a forecast for the ‘Green deal’ and our landscape and coastal ecosystems. 

About Stiig Markager 
Stiig Markager is professor in marine ecology and biogeochemistry at Aarhus University, Institute for Ecoscience. He received his master degree from University of Copenhagen in 1987 and a Ph.D. from Aarhus University in 1992. His research topics are aquatic ecology in both freshwater and marine systems, and he has studied aquatic ecology from high Arctic lakes to the blue oceans, e.g. on the third Danish Galathea expedition in 2006/7. Focus has been on growth and ecophysiology of aquatic plants, bio-optics, dissolved organic matter and eutrophication. Stiig Markager pioneered the efforts of establishing relationships between nutrient loadings and the state of coastal marine ecosystems, which today is constitute the scientific basis for the Danish water actions plans. Over the years, public dissemination has become an important part of his job, and in 2024 Stiig Markager was the 7. most used expert in Danish medias. In 2021 he was victim of the first SLAPP case aimed at a scientist in Denmark when the farmers organization sued him with allegations of harming the reputation of Danish farmers, when claiming that they were the source of nitrogen pollution. Stiig Markager also has a voice in the debate for academic freedom and has received several prices for his struggle for a healthy marine environment.

Venue
The DIAS Auditorium, SDU Campus Odense

This event is open for all. No registration needed