Phosphorous stored in watersheds and affects water quality for decades. A new model predicts phosphorus accumulation and depletion, and the consequences for water quality conservation measures.
phosphorus
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Cosmic Dust May Be Key Source of Phosphorus for Life on Earth
When tiny particles enter Earth’s atmosphere, a newly described series of chemical reactions may lead to production of phosphorus-containing molecules that are essential for biological processes.
Posted inOpinions
Our Losing Phosphate Wager
Global food systems depend on fertilizers with phosphate. We need to act now before this nonrenewable resource runs out.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Records and Risks of Legacy Phosphorus in Streams
A new study quantifies persistent phosphorus in a drainage basin in Sweden and points out risks and oversights to factor in to future stream management.
Posted inNews
After a Glacier Retreats, Plants Thrive Thanks to Phosphorus
Grasses, small flowers, and mosses colonize glacial till in the Peruvian Andes when researchers apply a phosphorus fertilizer, an ecological surprise with implications for carbon sequestration.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Past Phosphorus Runoff Causes Present Oxygen Depletion in Lakes
Sediment cores show how phosphorus pollution in the 1950s led to current, inherited hypoxia in lakes in the Alps.