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Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Measuring Phosphorus Release in Laboratory Microcosms for Water Quality Assessment
Published on: July 22, 2019
Depth-dependent phosphorus leaching risks in littoral soils of Lake Dianchi under extreme rainfall
Leibo Ding1, Wenbin Zhou1, Rui Liu2,3
1Institute of Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, China.
Abstract:
Littoral zones and constructed riparian buffers of eutrophic lakes receive long-term non-point phosphorus (P) inputs and are widely used to buffer agricultural runoff, yet under intensifying rainfall events they may turn into important P sources that threaten the sustainability of lake restoration efforts. This study quantified depth-dependent P release, adsorption and leaching along a 0-60 cm soil profile in the Lake Dianchi littoral zone using batch sorption-desorption experiments and dynamic column tests that simulated short, high-intensity rainfall and groundwater rise. All horizons contained extremely high total P (TP;1.19-2.21 g kg-1) but showed contrasting P mobility. The 0-10 and 30-40 cm layers combined high legacy P and organic matter with low additional sorption capacity and slow adsorption kinetics, leading to rapid breakthrough, high C/C₀ values and the largest P leaching loads. The 50-60 cm layer displayed higher sorption capacity and fast initial uptake under static conditions, but released Fe-bound P under prolonged saturation and reducing conditions, indicating limited long-term buffering. During elution, effluent P concentrations in all layers generally exceeded influent levels, showing that storm infiltration mobilised both incoming and soil-stored P. These results identify the 0-10 and 30-40 cm horizons as critical "leaky layers" that control vertical P transfer from littoral soils to groundwater and the lake, highlighting the need for depth-targeted vegetation and soil-amendment strategies to sustain the long-term effectiveness of littoral zones as nature-based solutions for eutrophication control in plateau lakes.
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