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Phosphorus Loss by Stream Transport from a Rural Watershed: Quantities, Processes, and Sources¹

ABSTRACT

Loss of dissolved and particulate phosphorus by stream transport was determined over a 20-month period for Fall Creek, a stream draining a predominantly rural watershed of 330 km² in central New York. Samples were taken several times daily during most high flow periods and at 3 to 20 day intervals during low flow periods. Samples were usually processed within 4 hours since redistribution of P among chemical forms was rapid. Losses of P from the watershed per unit time varied by several orders of magnitude and 75% of the P loss occurred in the highest flow which occurred in 10% of the time. In reaches well downstream from major point source inputs, dissolved inorganic P concentrations were highest during storm events due to two processes: desorption of P accumulated in the bed sediment from point source inputs during low flow, and inputs from diffuse sources in surface runoff. Dissolved organic P concentrations were not correlated with flow. Approximately 20% of the dissolved P lost from the watershed was derived from diffuse sources associated with farming, 45% was derived from natural geochemical processes, and 35% from point source inputs. Less than 1% of the P applied to the landscape in chemical fertilizer and manure was lost from the watershed in dissolved form.

Key Words: nonpoint source pollution • dissolved phosphorus • particulate phosphorus • land use • stream sampling

¹ Contribution from the Dep. of Agronomy, New York State Coll. of Agric. and Life Sci., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY 14853. Supported in part by funds from Rockefeller Foundation Grant RF70103.

² Formerly Research Associate now Assistant Professor, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Professor of Soil Science; Experimentalist; and Lab Technician, respectively.

Received for publication June 13, 1975.

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