Changes in polyphosphate sedimentation: a response to excessive phosphorus enrichment in a hypereutrophic lake

Abstract

Historic changes in lake phosphorus (P) loading are often determined in paleolimnological investigations by assessing stratigraphic changes in sediment total P. Polyphosphate (poly-P) in sediments may provide additional information on historic lake trophic status, because phytoplankton store surplus P intracellularly as poly-P when supplies exceed growth requirements. We hypothesize that phytoplankton (i.e., cyanobacteria and diatoms) with stored poly-P can remain intact and viable for many decades after sedimentation and that sedimented poly-P is not geochemically reactive. We tested our hypotheses with sediment cores from Lake Apopka, Fla., U.S.A., where P loading has increased ~7-fold since the 1920s and phytoplankton biomass is nitrogen limited owing to excessive P enrichment. We show that sedimented poly-P is mobilized by sample drying (i.e., becomes water soluble, geochemically reactive, and bioavailable); that anthropogenic P enrichment is expressed in the sediment record as increasing concentrations of poly-P; and that, consequently, sedimentary poly-P is a sensitive indicator of historic excessive P enrichment. Sedimentary poly-P is not geochemically reactive; thus, it represents biological attenuation that may partially ameliorate the effects of excessive P loading.