Recebido em 24/2/12; aceito em 14/8/12; publicado na web em 29/11/12 NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC EMISSIONS OF NITROGEN, PHOSPHOROUS AND METALS INTO THE MACAÉ RIVER BASIN (MACAÉ, RJ, BRAZIL) INFLUENCED BY OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION IN CAMPOS BASIN. Emission factors of natural processes and anthropogenic activities were used to estimate nutrients and metal loads for the lower Macaé river basin, which hosts the operational base for the offshore oil and gas exploration in the Campos Basin. The estimates indicated that emissions from anthropogenic activities are higher than natural emissions. Major contributing drivers include husbandry and urbanization, whose effluents receive no treatment. The increasing offshore oil exploration along the Brazilian littoral has resulted in rapid urbanization and, therefore might increase the inshore emission of anthropogenic chemicals in cases where effective residue control measures are not implemented in fluvial basins of the region.

In wetlands, the knowledge accumulated on the role of aquatic plants in the methane