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Importance of diffusion and resuspension for phosphorus cycling during the growing season in large, shallow Lake Peipsi

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Abstract

Our study aimed at elucidating the role of internal loading in the budget of phosphorus (P) and assessed the importance of resuspension and diffusive fluxes for P cycling in large, shallow Lake Peipsi. The internal loading of P was quantified by a mass balance approach that considered the gross sedimentation of P as a component. The gross sedimentation of P was measured with sediment traps during May–October 2011. Additionally, we followed the monthly dynamics of diffusive fluxes and resuspension of P within this time period. The gross sedimentation of P dominated the mass balance calculations in Lake Peipsi. The resuspension of P constituted 62–68% of the gross sedimentation of P, and thereby accounted for the bulk of the total internal P load. Until late July, the release of P by diffusion was similar in magnitude to that of resuspension. Since August, resuspension was of governing importance for P cycling: the release of P by resuspension at that time was about 40-fold higher than that of the diffusion. Therefore, diffusion and resuspension provided a continuous supply of P to the water column during the growing season.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the projects SF 0170006s08 and 8-2/T15021PKLJ of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, by the Estonian Science Foundation under Grant 7392, by the project 8-2/T14071PKLJ of the Environmental Investment Centre and by the Academy of Finland (Project Number 263305). Very special acknowledgements go to Kristel Panksep, Aivar Roomet, Ahti Kikas, Priit Tammeorg and Malle Viik for their help with the field and laboratory work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Olga Tammeorg, Jukka Horppila & Juha Niemistö

  2. Centre for Limnology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, 61117, Rannu, Tartu, Estonia

    Olga Tammeorg, Reet Laugaste & Marina Haldna

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  1. Olga Tammeorg
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  2. Jukka Horppila
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  3. Reet Laugaste
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Correspondence to Olga Tammeorg.

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Tammeorg, O., Horppila, J., Laugaste, R. et al. Importance of diffusion and resuspension for phosphorus cycling during the growing season in large, shallow Lake Peipsi. Hydrobiologia 760, 133–144 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2319-9

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