A University of Alabama (Huntsville) scientist in the United States, has mentioned that a shift in bioethanol feedstock from corn to cellulose-based trees and grasses, could help fight the rising incidence of “dead zones” in the Gulf of Mexico. “Dead zones” or “hypoxic zones” are regions of low oxygen in water bodies, and these areas are usually unfit for aquatic or marine life. Oxygen depletion in these zones, is said to be a consequence of algal blooms (triggered by  high nitrogen run-offs from fertilizer-intensive farmlands) which eventually die off and decay. The high demand for corn-based ethanol has caused record increases in corn cultivation in the United States, resulting in higher fertilizer use and run-offs with high nitrogen load, finding their way into the Gulf of Mexico. This has triggered massive algal blooms which eventually die off, settle, decay and cause the dead zones. Dr. Gopi Podila of the University of Alabama (Huntsville) Biological Sciences Department says, that a shift to cellulose ethanol (in the form of trees and grasses) could “take up some of that fertilizer and help alleviate the runoff problem before it hits the Mississippi Delta”. (The Mississippi River drains into the Gulf of Mexico). He adds that fast growing trees can grow on marginal lands and are cheaper to grow than corn. Dr. Podila’s current research (funded by the United States Department of Energy) is on genes that regulate growth in fast growing trees, particularly poplar and aspen. “If we can take a seven-year growth cycle and cut that down to six or five years, that's a tremendous gain”, he said..