Nitrogen and phosphorus forms and release risks of lake sediments from the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River

Abstract

Cluster analysis, principal component analysis and correlation matrix analysis were used to analysis the nitrogen and phosphorus release risks from sediments in 18 lakes located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, as well as the nitrogen and phosphorus forms and related geochemical parameters from sediments, pore waters and overlying waters. The ecological difference of macrophyte and algae dominated lakes was the main reason of the difference of nitrogen and phosphorus release. The release risks were well correlated with the iron-bound phosphorus (FeP), algae available phosphorus (AAP), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) in sediment, the content of nitrogen and phosphorus in overlying and pore waters, porosity and organic matter content of surficial sediment. The AAP and FeP was the main phosphorus forms deciding the phosphorus release risk and other forms were in less effect on it due to the lower contents or lower transformation ability. The sediment organic phosphor-us was not directly related to the phosphor-us release risks but remarkably positively correlated to organic matter contents in sediment.