Hypoxia in aquatic systems refers to waters where the
dissolved oxygen concentration is below 2 mg/L. Most organisms avoid, or
become physiologically stressed, in waters with oxygen below this
concentration. Also known as a dead zone, hypoxia can also kill marine
organisms which cannot escape the low-oxygen water, affecting commercial
harvests and the health of impacted ecosystems.
3. Rationale: Numerous researchers are studying hypoxia, the hypoxic
zone, and its effect on fisheries. It is becoming a highly visible hot
topic in the Gulf of Mexico and other regions as the onset of hypoxia is
largely due to increased nutrient run off from agriculture practices in the
Mississippi River watershed. I think there needs to be a unifying keyword
to link these datasets together for users to discover hypoxia related data
across multiple organizations and programs.
