Microbialization definition
Microbialization means that opportunistic bacteria and phytoplankton will become the dominant groups of organisms inside the Lagoon. This trajectory of decline is often referred to as the “Slippery slope to slime” meaning that marine systems often shift to an ecosystem state dominated by unicellular organisms (i.e., bacteria, but also algal blooms). This shift has occurred in a wide variety of marine systems around the world and while restoration and/or recovery to the system’s original state has been attempted, no successes have been reported so far. According to GESAMP (2001), contamination of the coastal marine environment by sewage from coastal developments or boats leads to significant numbers of infectious diseases (e.g., diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and hepatitis A) linked to bathing and swimming in marine waters and to the consumption of seafood. The overabundance of microorganisms in disturbed systems thus takes its toll. For example, Shuval (2003) estimated that the global economic loss caused by pathogenic microorganisms in marine ecosystems is about $12 billion per year. Likewise, increased microbial abundances disrupted traditional uses of natural systems in Greece, Italy and Spain which are estimated at $329 million annually (European Environment Agency, EEA 2005). Human exposures to toxins associated with algae blooms also impose significant risks and chronic influx of excess nutrients to marine systems can eventually cause such systems to turn into so-called “dead zones”, areas of anaerobic conditions at the sea bottom where life is no longer possible (UNEP/GPA2006). During severe weather conditions, increased groundwater flow or overflow of sewage systems results in temporal spikes of microbial densities in nearby coastal zones followed by sewage-related outbreaks of diseases (GEF et al 2001).