Phosphorous dynamics in a temperate intertidal estuary

Abstract

Conservation and management of aquatic systems require detailed information of the processes that affect their functioning and development. The objectives of the present work were to describe the phosphorus dynamics during a complete tidal cycle and to quantify the relative contribution of the most common estuarine areas (e.g. seagrass beds, salt marshes, mud- and sand-flats without vegetation) to phosphorus net internal loading in a temperate intertidal estuary. Results show that phosphate efflux rates were higher during the first hours of tidal flood, and that phosphate concentrations were lowest at high tide. During tidal ebbing, ephemeral tide pools may cover a considerable percentage of the intertidal area. In these tide pools, water shallowness combined with enhanced temperatures stimulate the occurrence of high phosphate effluxes. The effluxes to the main water body during high tide contributed 57% of dissolved inorganic phosphorus and efflux during low tide contributed 43% to the net internal loading. Calculations of the phosphate net effluxes (kg P) indicate a strong contribution of the bare bottom mud-flats to the whole system internal phosphate loading, especially during the warmer periods. As a consequence of eutrophication, perennial benthic macrophytes are commonly replaced by fast-growing epiphytic macroalgae. Calculations showed that for a hypothetical intertidal estuary in a temperate region, management programs considering an eventual re-colonization of mud-flats by seagrasses or salt marsh plants may reduce the P-efflux by 13–16 kg ha −1. For example, in the small Mondego estuary, eutrophication has contributed to a reduction of the Zostera noltii meadows, leading to an increase in 190 kg of phosphorus net internal loading.