SCIENCE@home

Phosphorus: a rate limiting nutrient in surface waters.

DL Correll

Published 1999 in Poultry Science

ABSTRACT

Phosphorus is an essential element for all life forms. It is a mineral nutrient. Orthophosphate is the only form of P that autotrophs can assimilate. Extracellular enzymes hydrolyze organic forms of P to phosphate. Eutrophication is the over-enrichment of surface waters with mineral nutrients. The results are excessive production of autotrophs, especially algae and cyanobacteria. This high productivity leads to high bacterial populations and high respiration rates, leading to hypoxia or anoxia in poorly mixed bottom waters and at night in surface waters during calm, warm conditions. Low dissolved oxygen causes the loss of aquatic animals and the release of many materials normally bound to bottom sediments, including various forms of P. This release of P reinforces the eutrophication. Excessive concentrations of P is the most common cause of eutrophication in freshwater lakes, reservoirs, streams, and in the headwaters of estuarine systems. In the ocean, N is believed to usually be the key mineral nutrient controlling primary production. Estuaries and continental shelf waters are a transition zone, in which excessive P and N create problems. It is best to measure and regulate total P inputs to whole aquatic ecosystems, but for an easy assay it is best to measure total P concentrations, including particulate P, in surface waters or N:P atomic ratios in phytoplankton.

PUBLICATION RECORD

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-59 of 59 references · Page 1 of 1

CITED BY

Showing 1-100 of 370 citing papers · Page 1 of 4

1234
Next