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Nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization in sediments of Taihu Lake after the removal of light fraction organic matter

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Abstract

Mineralization of organic matter (OM) in sediment is crucial for biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in lake ecosystem. Light fraction OM (LFOM) is a reactive pool in sediment and is considered as labile fraction contributing to N and P cycling. In our study, the effect of LFOM on the process and characteristics of N and P mineralization in sediments of Taihu Lake were investigated with 77-day waterlogged incubation plus intermittent leaching at 27°C. Sediments from Yuantouzhu (Y) and Gonghu (G) were used, which were removed the LF. Results indicated that the organic nitrogen mineralized ranged from 14.3 to 19.5% of total nitrogen (193.49–378.93 mg kg−1 sediment) and the organic phosphorus mineralized ranged from 5.7 to 7.9% of total phosphorus (19.86–60.65 mg kg−1 sediment). The heavily polluted sediment had a higher mineralization rate and net mineral-N and mineral-P than slightly polluted sediment. LF stimulated the initial amounts of inorganic N and P and also can be the potential source for mineralization. After the LFOM removal, the net mineral-N of Y and G decreased 116.47 mg kg−1 sediment and 48.03 mg kg−1sediment, respectively, and the net mineral-P decreased 2.67 mg kg−1sediment for Y and 4.82 mg kg−1sediment for G. Two models were used to fit the observed mineral-N data vs. incubation days using a non-linear regression procedure: one is the effective cumulated temperature model, a thermodynamic model which assumes that N mineralization is affected by temperature; the other is the single first-order exponential model, which is a dynamic model. Based on root mean square error values for the two models, the effective cumulated temperature model made a better prediction of N mineralization than the other model for all the four treatments. The single first-order exponential model underestimated N mineralization during the first 14 days and the last 21 days, and overestimated it in the other days during the 77-day incubation. This indicated that temperature was the primary factor influencing N mineralization and the amount of mineral-N were correlated significantly with the effective cumulated temperature (T ≥ 15°C) and incubation time when waterlogged incubation plus intermittent leaching was used.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40703017, 40873079) and Basic Scientific Research of Chinese Research Academy of Environment Sciences (No. 2007KYYW27).

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  1. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control, Research Center of Lake Eco-Environment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, 8 Dayangfang, Beiyuan, Anwai, Beijing, 100012, China

    Chunxia Yang, Shengrui Wang, Xiangcan Jin & Fengchang Wu

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  1. Chunxia Yang
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  2. Shengrui Wang
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Correspondence to Shengrui Wang.

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Yang, C., Wang, S., Jin, X. et al. Nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization in sediments of Taihu Lake after the removal of light fraction organic matter. Environ Earth Sci 59, 1437–1446 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0130-5

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