Available phosphorus in lake sediments in The Netherlands

The amount of phosphorus available to algae in the sediments of four lakes in the western part of the Netherlands has been assessed by means of chemical extraction and bioassay techniques. In addition to direct chemical sediment analyses, extractions were carried out with an NTA column method and a stepwise NH₄ Cl-NaOH-HCI shaking method, the latter supposedly separating the weakly bound, the Fe- and Al-bound and the Ca-bound phosphates in the sediments. Bioassays, with sediment as the sole source of P, were made withScenedesmus quadricauda in modified Skulberg's 28 medium to determine the amount of phosphates available to algae.The average total P concentration of the sediments varied from 0.8 to 3.6 mg P g^–1 dry wt and correlated well with the net external P loading of the lakes. Uptake of P by algae in the bioassays varied from 0.4 to 36% — while NTA extracted 36–69% of the total P. The ratio NH₄Cl extracted/ NaOH extracted/ HCI extracted phosphates is different from lake to lake, although in all lakes the highest extractions (27–62% of total P) are found in the NaOH fraction. However, in the peaty sediments of these lakes, the NaOH step extracted not only the Fe- and Al-bound phosphates but, also, large amounts of humus compounds. Hence, this fraction also contains non-available organic P.The results are related to soil type and chemical characteristics of the sediments, and compared with data from other authors. A positive correlation was found between phosphate available to algae and NTA- and NaOH-extractable P, but the correlation with total phosphorus was higher. Moreover, algal-extractable P proved to be positively correlated with total iron and clay content and negatively with the amount of organic matter.It is concluded that the sediments in the investigated lakes show great variability and that the chemical extraction techniques cannot replace the bioassays to assess the amount of phosphorus available to algae.