Abstract
The recent implementation of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) and treatment wetlands called stormwater treatment areas (STAs) have reduced phosphorus (P) concentrations and loadings to the Everglades Protection Area (EPA) in Florida (USA). There is a concern that despite reductions in external P loadings, internal loading from the legacy P enrichment of the EPA wetland soils will continue to elevate water column P concentrations, and may impede restoration outcomes. In an effort to explore ways to reduce soil P efflux, we retrieved intact, vegetated (cattail, Typha domingensis) soil monoliths from two P-enriched areas of the EPA and deployed them at a location where they received pre-treated (low P) surface water as ex situ flow-through mesocosms for 21 months with a mid-study 7-week dry down to mimic natural hydroperiod conditions. Two treatments were tested for soils from both sites, using triplicate mesocosms for each treatment. After applying a herbicide (glyphosate) to eliminate the cattail vegetation, iron (Fe as liquid FeCl3) amendments provided no P retention benefits in the organic soils from the two sites, and did not yield significantly (P > 0.05; n = 43) lower flux rates (6.1 and 3.5 mg Pm−2 d−1) than the herbicide/no soil amendment control (3.9 and 2.1 mg Pm−2 d−1), as was expected. A combination of low oxidation–reduction potential, heightened organic matter P mineralization, high pH, and sulfide production acted interactively to enhance Fe and P mobilization in the Fe-amended mesocosms. The herbicide/limerock (CaCO3)-amended soils exhibited significantly lower (P ≤ 0.05; n = 43) P flux (1.3 and 1.1 mg Pm−2 d−1) than the herbicide/no soil amendment control soils, but it remains unknown whether the observed reduction in P efflux (ranging from 48 to 67%) would justify the expense and potential environmental impacts of applying a surficial limerock amendment to large regions of the P-enriched wetlands.
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Acknowledgements
Sample analyses were performed by J. Henry, N. Chan, K. Hileman, N. Larson, L. Colville, J. Wolack, and S. O’Harrow. J. Potts undertook the statistical analyses. T. Goffinet and D. Haselow helped core and transport the soil monoliths from WCA-2A to the experimental site (SATTS).
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Funding was provided by the Everglades Agricultural Area Environmental Protection District.
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Dierberg, F.E., DeBusk, T.A., Jackson, S.D. et al. An assessment of iron and calcium amendments for managing phosphorus release from impacted Everglades soils. Wetlands Ecol Manage 25, 649–666 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-017-9542-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-017-9542-2