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TECHNICAL REPORTS

Wetlands and Aquatic Processes

Variations in Stream Water and Sediment Phosphorus among Select Ozark Catchments

^a Biological and Agricultural Engineering Dep., Univ. of Arkansas, 203 Engineering Hall, Fayetteville, AR 72701
^b USDA–ARS National Soil Erosion Research Lab., 275 South Russell Street, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN 47907
^c Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences Dep., Univ. of Arkansas, 115 Plant Sciences, Fayetteville, AR 72701

^* Corresponding author (haggard{at}uark.edu).

Received for publication November 28, 2006. Stream sediments play a large role in the transport and fate of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in stream ecosystems, and equilibrium P concentrations (EPC₀) of benthic sediments at which P is neither adsorbed nor desorbed are often related to stream water SRP concentrations. This study evaluated (i) the variation among water chemistry and sediment-P interactions among streams draining catchments that varied in the land use; (ii) the relations between SRP concentration, sediment EPC₀, and other measured abiotic factors (e.g., particle size distribution, slope of linear sorption isotherms, etc.) in the stream sediments; and (iii) the use of the traditional Mehlich-3 (M3) soil extraction on stream sediments to elucidate other abiotic factors (e.g, M3P, P saturation ratio, etc.) related to SRP concentration in stream sediments. Stream water and sediments were sampled at 22 selected Ozark streams in northwest Arkansas during fall 2003 and spring 2004. Nitrate-N concentrations in the water column (r = 0.69) and modified P saturation ratios (PSR_mod) of the benthic sediments (r = 0.79) at the selected streams increased with an increase in percent pasture in the catchments, whereas SRP concentration (r = –0.56) and Mehlich-3–extractable P (M3P) content (r = –0.47) decreased with an increase in the percent forested area. Soluble reactive P concentrations in the stream water were positively correlated to sediment EPC₀ (r = 0.51), although sediment EPC₀ was generally greater than SRP. The M3 soil extraction was useful in identifying abiotic factors related to SRP concentrations in the selected streams, in particular SRP concentrations were positively correlated to M3P contents (r = 0.50) and PSR_mod (r = 0.71) of the benthic sediments. Thus, M3P and EPC₀ estimates from stream sediments may be valuable yet simple indicators of whether benthic sediments act as sinks or sources of P in fluvial systems, as well as estimating changes in stream SRP concentrations.

Abbreviations: Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance • Chl-a, chlorophyll-a • DO, dissolved oxygen • EPC₀, equilibrium P concentration • LSD, least significant difference • M3, Mehlich-3 extraction • M3P, Mehlich-3 P • Max, maximum • Med, median • Min, minimum • NH₄–N, ammonium-N • NO₃–N, nitrate N • NO₂–N, nitrite N • PSR, P saturation ratio • Q, stream discharge • SRP, soluble reactive P • SD, standard deviation • TN, total N • TP, total P • u, water velocity • WWTP, wastewater treatment plant