Excess rural and urban nutrient inputs have led to downstream water quality degradation. Landowners in a small watershed in south central Manitoba, Canada have installed small dams as flood control mechanisms. Previous work has shown these dams and reservoirs are effective at decreasing total phosphorus (P) export, however questions of permanence, daily P fluctuation, and mechanisms influencing P retention still remain. Sediment nutrient dynamics can exert an important control on water quality on daily, monthly, and yearly timescales. To help better understand spatial and temporal patterns of P retention, P sorption assays were constructed (equilibrium P concentration or EPC0) and compared monthly measurements of EPC0 in small dammed reservoirs with their natural analog, stream pools. Dammed reservoirs and stream pools both showed a strong capacity to sorb P from the water column and as such, sediment processes represent a P sink across much of the catchment. In situ high frequency P sensors were deployed to assess short-term changes in P concentrations in four dammed reservoirs. Diel changes were only apparent later in the summer (August) but what drives these changes is unknown. Dam design to optimize nutrient retention should consider factors affecting P retention, including sediment geochemistry, but also residence time, and water chemistry as potential controls on P sorption. Diel sampling results suggest that water quality monitoring regimes that rely on singular grab samples should aim to sample in the mid-morning, especially later in the summer, so as to not over or underestimate P concentrations in water bodies.

No description available.

Woody plant encroachment is a globally-prevalent vegetation change phenomenon that has shifted grass-dominated ecosystems to mixed grass and woody plant matrices over the last century. In the Rio Grande Plains of Texas, the introduction of N-fixing woody legumes has increased above- and belowground primary productivity and changed the litter chemistry of the system, accelerating rates of belowground biogeochemical processes. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of grassland to woodland transition on i) P concentrations in soil physical fractions that differ in their organic matter turnover rates, ii) P availability within the soil over the course of woody encroachment and across the landscape, and iii) microbial community composition and diversity. Soil samples were collected in remnant grasslands and four woody landscape elements (clusters, groves, drainage woodlands, and playas) along a 135-yr chronosequence of woody plant encroachment. P was fractionated by the Hedley method and P concentrations were determined by alkaline oxidation and lithium fusion coupled with ascorbic acid colorimetry. Bacterial and fungal communities were characterized by molecular methods. Whole soil P concentrations were 2-5X greater in woody landscape elements than in grasslands, and nutrient concentrations increased linearly with time following woody plant invasion in all but the slowest-cycling physical fractions. Plant-available P and organic P increased dramatically with time following encroachment. Changes in P availability were more pronounced in drainages and playas than in upland clusters and groves. Analysis of the bacterial and fungal communities demonstrated that microbial communities in grasslands differ at both phylum and genus level from the flora of the wooded landscape elements. This study demonstrates that woody encroachment strongly influences the distribution and availability of soil P and indicates that nutrient cycles in the soil are closely linked and similarly affected by increased woody plant abundance. Microbial communities under woody species differ in composition from those of the grasslands, and are likely contributing to the observed changes in nutrient availability. Since N and P are generally the most limiting nutrients in terrestrial ecosystems, increased stores of P are likely to alter rates of microbial processes, plant-microbe and plant-plant interactions, and successional dynamics in this ecosystem and similar landscapes around the world.

FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgico / Os reservatÃrios sÃo ambientes aquÃticos continentais que apresentam relaÃÃo estreita com a bacia de drenagem. Dentre as funÃÃes, ciclagem de fÃsforo e nitrogÃnio à essencial à manutenÃÃo e estruturaÃÃo das comunidades ecolÃgicas, principalmente do fitoplÃncton. A entrada de energia, matÃria por causas naturais e, mais intensivamente antrÃpicas e algumas caracterÃsticas dos reservatÃrios do semiÃrido brasileiro (radiaÃÃo solar, pluviosidade, temperatura e vento) podem possibilitar padrÃes diferenciados das variÃveis fÃsicas, quÃmicas e biolÃgicas e estabelecer condiÃÃes favorÃveis a dominÃncia de espÃcies da classe Cyanophyceae. Visando identificar correlaÃÃes destas variÃveis foram feitas coletas nictemerais das variÃveis fÃsicas, quÃmicas, climatolÃgicas e biolÃgicas durante os meses de fevereiro, maio, agosto e novembro no reservatÃrio Pereira de Miranda, localizado municÃpio de Pentecoste, semiÃrido brasileiro, em 2012. Foi observado que as alteraÃÃes de temperatura da Ãgua e velocidade do vento interferem nas variÃveis limnolÃgicas do reservatÃrio, principalmente na extensÃo da zona de mistura, sendo possÃvel distinguir duas fases: estratificada e desestratificada. AlÃm de alterar as caracterÃsticas limnolÃgicas as fases tambÃm provocam alteraÃÃes na estrutura das assembleias de fitoplÃncton, como a floraÃÃo de espÃcies do gÃnero Microsystis. ConcluÃmos que os padrÃes de estratificaÃÃo e desestratificaÃÃo sÃo os principais fatores de interferÃncia nas variÃveis limnolÃgicas e na estrutura do fitoplÃncton do reservatÃrio. / Reservoirs are freshwater ecosystems that have close relationship with the drainage basin. Among the functions, cycling of phosphorus and nitrogen is essential to the maintenance and structuring of ecological communities, mainly phytoplankton. Input of energy, raw natural causes and more intensive anthropogenic and some reservoir characteristics of the Brazilian semiarid region (solar radiation, rainfall, temperature and wind) can derive different patterns of physical, chemical and biological weapons and establish conditions conducive to dominance species of the class Cyanophyceae. To identify correlations of these variables were made collections nyctemeral of physical, chemical, biological and climatological during the months of February, May, August and November in the reservoir Pereira de Miranda, located city of Pentecost, the Brazilian semiarid region in 2012. It was observed that changes in water temperature and wind velocity interfere with limnological variables, especially in the extension of the mixing zone, it is possible to distinguish two phases: stratified and nonstratified. In addition to changing the limnological phases also cause changes in the structure of phytoplankton assemblages, such as flowering species of Microsystis. We conclude that the patterns of stratification and destratification are the main factors affecting the limnological and phytoplankton structure in the reservoir.

Thesis (M.S.)--Indiana University, 2007. / Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Gabriel M. Filippelli, Catherine Souch, Lenore P. Tedesco. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-83).

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The focus of this study was to document phosphorus (P) and metal cycling in the Eagle Creek Reservoir (ECR), located in Indianapolis, central Indiana. Eagle Creek Reservoir serves the drinking water needs of over 80,000 residents. Within the last several years, algal blooms have created stress to the local treatment facility. The objective of this study was to examine how P cycling from oxygen deprived bottom sediments affects the algal bloom productivity. As such, cores were retrieved from different water depths (7 and 16 m) from portions of the reservoir where high surficial concentrations of organic matter and P were found to occur. The dried samples were analyzed for P, sulfur, iron, barium, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc, using a strong acid digestion technique. The samples were also analyzed for iron-bound P (Fe-P), authigenic P (A-P), detrital P (D-P), organic P (O-P), reducible iron, and reducible manganese, using a sequential extraction technique. The results from the study showed moisture contents ranged from 16 to 76% and organic matter contents ranged from 2 to 12 wt%. The dry bulk densities were determined to be between 0.27 and 1.68 g cm3. The average percentages of P in ECS-1, as determined by the sequential extraction method, were as follows: Fe-P, 66.2%; A-P, 8.1%; D-P, 4.8%; and O-P, 20.9%. The average percentages of P in ECS-3, as determined by the sequential extraction method, were as follows: Fe-P, 77.0%; A-P, 6.5%; D-P, 2.8%; and O-P, 16.7%. To determine relationships between elements, correlations were calculated. When looking as the relationships between the P fractions and reducible Fe, differences were observed between the different water depths. There was less correlation between reducible Fe and Fe-P, and between O-P and Fe-P, in ECS-3, indicating that Fe-P is more efficiently dissolved and recycled in the deep portion of ECR. The study shows that the Fe-P flux, caused by the iron redox cycle, is persistent and will continue to influence algal bloom productivity in the deeper portions of ECR.