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An investigation of the effects of capping on internal phosphorus release from sediments under rooted macrophytes (Phragmites australis) revegetation

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Abstract

In eutrophic lake restorations, in situ capping is an often considered method to control sediment internal phosphorus (P) pollution for mitigating eutrophication status. Subsequent aquatic macrophyte revegetation can directly derive P from the sediment for growth. However, the effects of capping with clean soils on internal P release from sediments under rooted aquatic macrophyte revegetation are still unclear. In the present study, the influences of sediment P remobilization by P. australis revegetation on P inactivation by capping were investigated based on an entire growth simulation study. Our findings showed during the growth of P. australis, tests conducted on total phosphorous (TP), calcium-bound P (Ca-P), loosely bound P (loose-P), organic P (Org-P), and iron-adsorbed P (Fe-P) found significant changes (p < 0.001). Specifically, the mean contents of TP and Ca-P decreased by 291.1 and 224.2 mg kg−1, respectively, while those of Fe-P increased from 26.4 to 124.8 mg kg−1. In addition, sediment mobile-P contents increased coincidentally with the growth of P. australis during the whole course of experiment. Further analysis indicated calculated diffusion fluxes of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) generally increased with incubation time, although capping effectively induced the reduction of SRP concentration in pore water and its release to waters. Therefore, sediment P remobilization by P. australis revegetation was able to enhance P lability in lake sediments, with intermediate activation ability compared to other correlated water bodies. This phenomenon was most likely attributed to solubilization of sediment P by organic acids secreted from P. australis rhizosphere. Overall, sediment P remobilization by rooted macrophytes is unfavorable for capping to control internal P release to water column during eutrophic lake restorations.

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Abbreviations

P:

phosphorus

TP:

total phosphorus

SRP:

soluble reactive phosphorus

loose-P:

loosely bound P

Fe-P:

Fe-adsorbed P

Al-P:

Al-adsorbed P

Org-P:

organic P

Ca-P:

Ca-bound P

Fe:

iron

Al:

aluminum

Ca:

calcium

Mn:

manganese

OM:

organic matter

LOI:

loss on ignition

APA:

alkaline phosphatase activities

AVS:

acid volatile sulfide

FDA:

fluorescein diacetate

TB:

total biomass

PH:

plant height

BB:

belowground biomass

FB:

fine root biomass

TRL:

total root length

TRTN:

total root tip number

RA:

root activity

TRSA:

total root surface area

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Acknowledgements

This study was jointly sponsored by the research projects of the Major State Water Pollution Control and Treatment Technique Programs of China (2012ZX07103-005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51709183, 51409166, 51579149, 51609144), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20160143), and the 61st China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2017M611862). We would like to thank Dr. Chao Chen for accurate laboratory analyses. We do sincerely appreciate two anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestion and further improvement of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Number 73 Beijing East Road, 210008, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Juhua Yu, Jicheng Zhong, Wei Huang & Chengxin Fan

  2. CEER, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing, 210029, People’s Republic of China

    Juhua Yu, Qiuwen Chen & Liuming Hu

  3. Key Laboratory of Forestry Ecological Engineering of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, People’s Republic of China

    Yinlong Zhang

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  1. Juhua Yu
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  2. Jicheng Zhong
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  3. Qiuwen Chen
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  4. Wei Huang
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Correspondence to Chengxin Fan.

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Yu, J., Zhong, J., Chen, Q. et al. An investigation of the effects of capping on internal phosphorus release from sediments under rooted macrophytes (Phragmites australis) revegetation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 24682–24694 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2432-1

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