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Processes and mechanisms of phosphorus mobility among sediment, water, and cyanobacteria under hydrodynamic conditions

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Abstract

Phosphorus (P) has an important role in eutrophication and it is essential to explore the processes and mechanisms of P mobility in natural waters. In this study, laboratory experiments were conducted to simulate the SW system (sediment and water) and SAW system (sediment, algae, and water) under four hydrodynamic intensity conditions (static control, 50 rpm, 125 rpm, and 200 rpm treatments), to investigate P mobility. Results in SW system showed that sediment was an important source of P for overlying water, and the released total P (TP) increased with stronger hydrodynamic intensity, when P associated with metal pools (redox-sensitive P [BD-P] and meta-oxides bound P [NaOH-P]) were the most unstable and easier to migrate into the overlying water. Stronger hydrodynamic disturbances could enhance the processes including sediment resuspension, dissolution of particles, and release of P, when P mobility had a close relationship with redox conditions near sediment-water interface (SWI). Therefore, the release of TP, BD-P, and NaOH-P from sediment increased and decreased in the control and 50–200 rpm treatments over time. In SAW system, the release of TP significantly increased from sediment comparing to SW system, and the growth of Microcystis aeruginosa could selectively enhance the release of BD-P, NaOH-P, and organic P (OP). Meanwhile, the released P from sediment was quickly accumulated by algal cells. The maximum accumulation ability of P by cells, the highest photosynthetic efficiency, and the best growth of M. aeruginosa were observed in 125 rpm treatment. But with excessively strong hydrodynamic intensity (200 rpm treatment), the accumulation ability of P and alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) of M. aeruginosa was suppressed, which might hinder algal utilization of P and inhibit algal growth. Overall, our findings demonstrated the patterns of P mobility in natural ecosystems and could contribute to the understanding of P cycling.

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Data availability

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

SW system:

Sediment and overlying water

SAW system:

Sediment, algae, and overlying water

TP:

Total phosphorus

TDP:

Total dissolved phosphorus

PP:

Particulate phosphorus

BD-P:

Redox-sensitive phosphorus

NaOH-P:

Meta-oxides bound phosphorus

IP:

Inorganic phosphorus

OP:

Organic phosphorus

APA:

Alkaline phosphatase activity

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all anonymous editors and reviewers for providing comments on this manuscript. We also appreciate the grants for Project supported by the Talent-Recruiting Program of Nanjing Institute of Technology (No. YKJ201845) and Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (BK20210933).

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Talent-Recruiting Program of Nanjing Institute of Technology (No. YKJ201845) and Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (BK20210933).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Engineering, Nanjing Institute of Technology, 211167, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Lingxiao Ren, Keqiang Ding, Zhixin Hu, Huiya Wang & Wei Xu

  2. College of Environment and Resources, Chongqing Technology and Business University, 400067, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China

    Ning Qi

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  1. Lingxiao Ren
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  2. Keqiang Ding
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Contributions

LR: data analyzing and writing original draft; KD: methodology and establishments offering; ZH and HW: reviewing and field sampling; NQ and WX: field sampling and language polishing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Ren, L., Ding, K., Hu, Z. et al. Processes and mechanisms of phosphorus mobility among sediment, water, and cyanobacteria under hydrodynamic conditions. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 9354–9368 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16255-6

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