Evaluation of phosphorus bioavailability in sediments of three contrastinglakes in China and the UK

The bioavailability of phosphorus (P) in sediments from West Lake and Lake Tai (China) and Lough Erne (Northern Ireland) was evaluated using total P ( TP), water soluble P (WSP), readily desorbable P (RDP), algal available P ( AAP) and Olsen-P. The results indicated that the TP content, the amounts of phosphorus extracted by each method and their proportions to TP varied wid ely between sediments of the three lakes. TP and chemical extractable phosp horus in the sediments of Lough Erne were considerably higher than those of the two lakes in China. Although TP in the West Lake sediments was similar to that of Lake Tai, the extractable phosphorus data suggested that the bi oavailability of P in West Lake sediments was higher than that in sediments from Lake Tai. Nevertheless, the rank order of extraction efficiency was t he same in all lakes and the amount extracted was in the sequence AAP > Ols en-P > WSP > RDP. There was a good correlation between extracted and TP in all the methods examined. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserve d.