| Plant-Mediated Phosphorus Mobilization from Sediments: Potential Influence on Freshwater Phosphorus Cycling. (2002) | |||||||||
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| The mobilization of sediment phosphorus (P) by three submersed freshwater pplant species was investigated on five different sediments. The study was conducted under controlled environmental conditions in lucite columns that enabled the separation of sediment and plant roots from the overlying P-free 'complete' nutrient solution. The species investigated (Egeria densa, Hydrilla verticillata, and Myriophyllum spicatum) had minor root systems (on a biomass basis), but were demonstrated to be fully capable of deriving their P nutrition exclusively from the sediments. Phosphorus absorption and translocation into shoots (i.e., mobilization) was substantial, and in some cases suggested a greater than 1000-fold turnover of interstitial water PO4-P over a 3-month period. In reservoirs, or in localized portions of reservoirs (e.g., coves and embayments), that are shallow and subjected to relatively minor areal water loads, P mobilization by aquatic plants is likely to play an important role in P cycling, possibly enhancing algal productivity. Even in deep impoundments, there are frequently numerous shallow coves in which rooted plants may significantly affect localized nutrient conditions. The mobilization of sediment P by submersed plants represents an important aspect of the P cycle, and may affect the overall metabolism of lacustrine systems. (Author) | |||||||||
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