Hunnebotn: a seawater basin transformed by natural and anthropogenic processes

The lake Hunnebotn (A ¼ 1 km2, zmax ¼ 11 m) has become separated from the sea by isostasis, but a 1.5-m-deep channel is held open by periodic dredging. Water exchange is minor due to the small tidal range (21 cm) and the length of the channel (1.8 km), but there may be an inflow of seawater at spring tides. The terrestrial watershed runoff may be fertilized by sewage and agricultural runoff despite some measures taken to prevent this. Historical and new records of biological communities indicate variations in sensitivity to different phases of the isolation and eutrophication process. The native oyster was most sensitive and disappeared first. Later, the eelgrass disappeared possibly due to overgrowth by epiphytic algae, and finally there was a massive littoral–sublittoral invasion of green algae. The lake should not be left in this condition, for aesthetic reasons and because marine inlets and eutrophic brackish water may serve as refugia for spore populations of toxic microalgae. Improving surface water quality will require better control of anthropogenic sources, but bursts and leaks of nutrients from the anoxic monimolimnion cannot be controlled.