Abstract
Phosphorus (P) dynamics in urban landscapes may differ from that in natural landscapes due to different P sources and unique environmental conditions. However, many aspects of P cycles in urban areas, especially within engineered aquatic ecosystems, remain largely unknown. Through this work, we aim to contribute to better understanding of P cycling in urban aquatic ecosystems by investigating P fractions in sediment and their relationship with ambient chemistry in surface water from six urban stormwater management ponds located in Ontario, Canada. We found that organic P contributed up to 75% of total P in pond sediment, but this percentage decreased significantly between our two sampling events in June and September 2012. This decrease coincided with increased rates of extracellular enzyme (especially phosphatase) activities, which is indicative of fast mineralization processes in these ecosystems. Moreover, the decreased sediment organic P was matched by increased water column P concentration. This inverse relationship suggests that the large organic P pool in pond sediment, and its fast decomposition, contributed to internal release of P from sediment and increased water column P concentrations. The dominance of organic P in sediment and the putative role of relevant biological processes (i.e., decomposition and productivity) in urban ponds found in this study strongly contrast with classic water management expectations of physicochemically controlled P dynamics and long-term P storage in sediment of aquatic ecosystems. This difference suggests that urban stormwater ponds may perform poorly in terms of P retention and thereby contribute to poor water quality in terms of P pollution to downstream urban watersheds. Thus, stormwater pond design and future management strategies should consider these biogeochemical features of urban ponds, including internal P release, to help prevent eutrophication of downstream ecosystems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arias ME, Brown MT, Sansalone JJ (2013) Characterization of storm water-suspended sediments and phosphorus in an urban catchment in Florida. J Environ Eng 139:277–288
Boers PCM, Van Raaphorst W, Van Der Molen DT (1998) Phosphorus retention in sediments. Water Sci Technol 37:31–39. doi:10.1016/S0273-1223(98)00053-5
Carpenter SR, Booth EG, Kucharik CJ, Lathrop RC (2015) Extreme daily loads: role in annual phosphorus input to a north temperate lake. Aquat Sci 77:71–79. doi:10.1007/s00027-014-0364-5
Chiandet AS, Xenopoulos MA (2011) Landscape controls on seston stoichiometry in urban storm water management ponds. Freshw Biol 56:519–529. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2010.02519.x
Cooke GD, Welch EB, Peterson SA, Nichols SA (2005) Restoration and management of lakes and reservoirs. Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton
Diaz OA, Daroub SH, Stuck JD et al (2006) Sediment inventory and phosphorus fractions for water conservation area canals in the Everglades. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:863–871. doi:10.2136/sssaj2005.0059
Dodds WK (2003) The role of periphyton in phosphorus retention in shallow freshwater aquatic systems. J Phycol 39:840–849. doi:10.1046/j.1529-8817.2003.02081.x
Ellis EC, Ramankutty N (2008) Putting people in the map: anthropogenic biomes of the world. Front Ecol Environ 6:439–447. doi:10.1890/070062
Freeman C, Liska G, Ostle NJ et al (1995) The use of fluorogenic substrates for measuring enzyme activity in peatlands. Plant Soil 175:147–152. doi:10.1007/BF02413020
Frost PC, Song K, Buttle JM et al (2015) Urban biogeochemistry of trace elements: what can the sediments of stormwater ponds tell us? Urban Ecosyst 18:763–775. doi:10.1007/s11252-014-0428-2
Grimm NB, Faeth SH, Golubiewski NE et al (2008) Global change and the ecology of cities. Science 319:756–760. doi:10.1126/science.1150195
Haygarth PM, Condron LM, Heathwaite AL et al (2005) The phosphorus transfer continuum: linking source to impact with an interdisciplinary and multi-scaled approach. Sci Total Environ 344:5–14. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.02.001
Hupfer M, Lewandowski J (2008) Oxygen controls the phosphorus release from lake sediments—A long-lasting paradigm in limnology. Int Rev Hydrobiol 93:415–432. doi:10.1002/iroh.200711054
Kaiserli A, Voutsa D, Samara C (2002) Phosphorus fractionation in lake sediments—Lakes Volvi and Koronia, N. Greece. Chemosphere 46:1147–1155. doi:10.1016/S0045-6535(01)00242-9
Kaushal SS, Groffman PM, Band LE et al (2011) Tracking nonpoint source nitrogen pollution in human-impacted watersheds. Environ Sci Technol 45:8225–8232. doi:10.1021/es200779e
Kaushal SS, McDowell WH, Wollheim WM (2014) Tracking evolution of urban biogeochemical cycles: past, present, and future. Biogeochemistry. doi:10.1007/s10533-014-0014-y
Kaye JP, Groffman PM, Grimm NB et al (2006) A distinct urban biogeochemistry? Trends Ecol Evol 21:192–199. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2005.12.006
Marsalek J, Chocat B (2002) International report: stormwater management. Water Sci Technol 46:1–17
Mortimer CH (1941) The exchange of dissolved substances between mud and water in lakes. J Ecol 29:280–329
Mortimer CH (1942) The exchange of dissolved substances between mud and water in lakes. J Ecol 30:147–201
Mortimer CH (1971) Chemical exchanges between sediments and water in the great lakes-speculations on probable regulatory mechanisms. Limnol Oceanogr 16:387–404. doi:10.4319/lo.1971.16.2.0387
Reddy KR, Kadlec RH, Flaig E, Gale PM (1999) Phosphorus retention in streams and wetlands: a review. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 29:83–146. doi:10.1080/10643389991259182
Rosemond AD, Benstead JP, Bumpers PM et al (2015) Freshwater ecology. Experimental nutrient additions accelerate terrestrial carbon loss from stream ecosystems. Science 347:1142–1145. doi:10.1126/science.aaa1958
Rydin E (2000) Potentially mobile phosphorus in Lake Erken sediment. Water Res 34:2037–2042. doi:10.1016/S0043-1354(99)00375-9
Skovgaard Jensen H, Andersen FO (1992) Importance of temperature, nitrate, and pH for phosphate release from aerobic sediments of four shallow, eutrophic lakes. Limnol Ocean 37:577–589
Song K, Xenopoulos MA, Buttle JM et al (2013) Thermal stratification patterns in urban ponds and their relationships with vertical nutrient gradients. J Environ Manag 127:317–323. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.05.052
Song K, Xenopoulos MA, Marsalek J, Frost PC (2015) The fingerprints of urban nutrients: dynamics of phosphorus speciation in water flowing through developed landscapes. Biogeochemistry 125:1–10. doi:10.1007/s10533-015-0114-3
Steinke K, Kussow WR, Stier JC (2013) Potential contributions of mature prairie and turfgrass to phosphorus in urban runoff. J Environ Qual 42:1176–1184. doi:10.2134/jeq2012.0494
Turner BL, Cade-Menun BJ, Westermann DT (2003) Organic phosphorus composition and potential bioavailability in semi-arid arable soils of the Western United States. Soil Sci Soc Am J 67:1168–1179. doi:10.2136/sssaj2003.1168
Walsh CJ, Roy AH, Feminella JW et al (2005) The urban stream syndrome: current knowledge and the search for a cure. J North Am Benthol Soc 24:706–723. doi:10.1899/04-028.1
Williams CJ, Frost PC, Xenopoulos MA (2013) Beyond best management practices: pelagic biogeochemical dynamics in urban stormwater ponds. Ecol Appl 23:1384–1395. doi:10.1890/12-0825.1
Williams CJ, Frost PC, Morales-Williams AM et al (2015) Human activities cause distinct dissolved organic matter composition across freshwater ecosystems. Glob Chang Biol 22:613–626. doi:10.1111/gcb.13094
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge financial support for this research from Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. We also thank Andrew B. Scott for his field and laboratory support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Stephen D. Sebestyen.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Song, K., Winters, C., Xenopoulos, M.A. et al. Phosphorus cycling in urban aquatic ecosystems: connecting biological processes and water chemistry to sediment P fractions in urban stormwater management ponds. Biogeochemistry 132, 203–212 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-017-0293-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-017-0293-1