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The Phosphorus Cycle

The Phosphorus Cycle

Unlike carbon, water, and nitrogen, phosphorus is not present in the atmosphere as a gas. Instead, most phosphorus in the ecosystem exists as compounds, such as phosphate ions (PO43-), found in soil, water, sediment and rocks. Phosphorus is often a limiting nutrient (i.e., in short supply). Consequently, phosphorus is added to most agricultural fertilizers, which can cause environmental problems related to runoff in aquatic ecosystems.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Laboratory-determined Phosphorus Flux from Lake Sediments as a Measure of Internal Phosphorus Loading

Laboratory-determined Phosphorus Flux from Lake Sediments as a Measure of Internal Phosphorus Loading

Published on: March 6, 2014

Predicting lake chlorophyll from stream phosphorus concentrations.

Lester L Yuan¹, Michael J Paul¹

¹Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Mail code 4304T, Washington, DC 20460.

Journal of the American Water Resources Association

|March 12, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Routine stream phosphorus measurements can predict annual nutrient loads and downstream lake chlorophyll concentrations. This finding simplifies nutrient management for achieving desired lake conditions.

Keywords:

Phosphorus load lake eutrophication nutrient criteria routine monitoring

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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2026

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Area of Science:

Environmental Science
Limnology
Water Resource Management

Background:

Excess nutrient loads from streams significantly impact downstream lake primary production and water quality.
Effective lake management hinges on controlling these incoming nutrient loads.
Accurate quantification of nutrient loads typically requires extensive streamflow and concentration data.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine if routine total phosphorus measurements in streams correlate with annual nutrient loads.
To assess the predictive power of stream phosphorus data for downstream lake chlorophyll concentrations.
To establish a simplified method for setting stream nutrient targets for lake management.

Main Methods:

Analysis of existing total phosphorus concentration data from routine stream monitoring.
Statistical correlation between stream phosphorus measurements and calculated annual nutrient loads.
Regression analysis to link average stream phosphorus concentrations to average lake chlorophyll levels.

Main Results:

Routine stream phosphorus measurements are significantly correlated with annual nutrient loads.
Average routine stream phosphorus concentrations effectively predict average lake chlorophyll concentrations.
These relationships provide a viable proxy for estimating nutrient impacts on lakes.

Conclusions:

Routine stream monitoring data for phosphorus can be leveraged to estimate annual nutrient loads.
Simplified stream phosphorus targets can be set to achieve desired lake conditions, reducing intensive monitoring needs.
This approach offers a cost-effective strategy for managing lake water quality.