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 inResearch Spotlights
A Well-Balanced Ecosystem Uses Water Most Efficiently
Excess of a single nutrient, such as nitrogen, may boost plant productivity, but the imbalance leads to less efficient water use as plants scramble for the nutrients they lack.
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 inResearch Spotlights
The Lasting Legacy of Phosphorus Buried in Lakes
Research at an experimental lake suggests that phosphorus inputs from runoff may affect the health of aquatic ecosystems long after external additions of the nutrient are reduced.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mapping Nutrient Inputs in the Great Lakes Basin
A new tool links nitrogen and phosphorus applications to land use classifications to better understand where and how much of the nutrients enter watersheds in the U.S. Great Lakes Basin.
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
What Proportion of River Nutrients Reaches the Open Sea?
Results of the first geographically based estimates of river nutrient supply indicate that 75% of dissolved nitrogen and 80% of phosphorus reach the open ocean.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Arctic Survey Hunts for Missing Nitrogen and Phosphorus
A new survey of ocean waters flowing in and out of the Arctic may shed light on how dissolved organic nitrogen and phosphorus contribute to nutrient cycling in the Arctic.