Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:57

DOI 10.1007/s12665-015-4810-z

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Effect of algal bloom on phosphorus exchange at the sediment–

water interface in Meiliang Bay of Taihu Lake, China
Jinzhi Wang1 • Xia Jiang1 • Binghui Zheng1 • Chunxiao Chen1 • Xiaoming Kang2 •
Caiyun Zhang1 • Zhongqi Song1 • Kun Wang1 • Wenwen Wang1 • Shuhang Wang1

Received: 20 November 2014 / Accepted: 11 July 2015 / Published online: 21 December 2015
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Abstract Taihu Lake, the third largest freshwater lake, is (DTP), and soluble reactive P (SRP) during the initial
typical of many eutrophic lakes in China. In recent years, 7 days mainly resulted from the P release from the
Taihu Lake is frequently suffering from extensive algal decomposing algae when DO concentration was lower than
blooms which dramatically change the environmental 0.5 mg L-1, and NO3- having a potential to suppress iron
conditions (e.g., oxygen concentration and pH) and there- (Fe) reduction was up to 1.1 mg L-1. Subsequently, Chl-
after may influence phosphorus (P) exchanges at the sedi- a concentration dramatically increased and reached at a
ment–water interface. Here, we used the repeated ANOVA maximum value on September 17, which indicated that
to compare the water P concentration either with or without algal growth became the dominant process. The increased
algae addition by a mimic experiment. Over a period of P level during algal growth might result from the sediment
20 days of incubation, chlorophyll a (Chl-a), water tem- Fe-bound P release when DO and NO3- concentration was
perature, dissolved oxygen (DO), oxidation–reduction kept at low levels, which could be further confirmed by the
potential (ORP), pH, nitrate (NO3-), as well as the P lowest NaOH-extractable P (NaOH-P) in the sediments on
fractions of overlying water and sediments were monitored. September 19. The results indicate that influence of algal
Results showed that compared with the Control treatment blooms on sediments P release cannot be neglected during
algal bloom significantly decreased DO, ORP, and pH and algal decomposition as well as the followed period of algal
increased P concentration of overlying water. The first growth in Meiliang Bay, the highly polluted region of
7 days of incubation could be considered as a period of Taihu Lake.
algal decomposition for the Algae treatment based on the
decreased Chl-a concentration, as well as the black and Keywords Algal bloom
Phosphorus
Sediment–water
smelly water. The increased total P (TP), dissolved total P interface
Algal decomposition
Algal growth
Taihu
Lake

Introduction
& Xia Jiang
jiangxia@craes.org.cn Anthropogenic eutrophication of surface water often results
& Binghui Zheng in undesirable conditions such as algal blooms that cause
zhengbh@craes.org.cn various ecological and environmental problems, including
Jinzhi Wang a serious threat to biodiversity, destruction of water habi-
wangjz04@126.com tats, decline in water transparency, and the oxygen defi-
1 ciency (Gubelit and Berezina 2010; Smith et al. 2011).
State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk
Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Phosphorus (P) is a critical element controlling primary
Sciences, Beijing 100012, China production in most lakes, whose main sources include
2
Institute of Wetland Research, Chinese Academy of Forestry, external loading and internal loading. Decreasing the
Beijing 100091, China external P load is one of the most implemented measures to

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57 Page 2 of 9 Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:57

combat eutrophication. However, reduction of external P Taihu Lake with an area of 2338 km2 is the third largest
load does not always lead to a satisfactory reduction of P freshwater lake in China and located in the Yangtze River
levels in the overlying water (Redshaw et al. 1990), and delta, the most rapidly developing region in China. Over
algal blooms still occur frequently and last for a longer the past three decades, excessive nutrient inputs have led to
time, which may attribute to the internal loading of P from the appearance and persistence of massive blooms of toxin-
the sediment (Søndergaard et al. 1999). producing cyanobacteria, which have seriously degraded
Sediment P release mechanisms are related to physical, water quality and impacted adversely on human use of the
chemical, and biological processes within the sediment and lake (Qin et al. 2007). Annual serious cyanobacterial
overlying water. Sediment P mobility is largely controlled bloom is pronounced from spring to autumn, and the large
by the sorption of P forms to iron oxides and hydroxides volume of cyanobacteria colonies is driven to the western
(hereafter termed as ‘‘Fe oxides’’), which is controlled by and northern areas of Taihu Lake by the high frequency of
the oxygen content, redox conditions, pH, and temperature southeast winds (Wu and Kong 2009). Meiliang Bay,
of the environment (Smolders et al. 2001; Jiang et al. 2006; located in the northern areas of Taihu Lake, is one of the
Hemond and Lin 2010). Under aerobic conditions, P is areas where cyanobacterial bloom broke out seriously
sorbed to Fe oxides that is insoluble (Søndergaard et al. (Chen et al. 2003; Chuai et al. 2011), where P exchange
2003), while in anaerobic conditions part of the insoluble across the sediment–water interface plays an important role
Fe oxides are reduced to their soluble Fe(II) forms, in nutrient cycling. Although P release from sediments has
resulting in P release from sediment into the surrounding been studied for a long time, many questions remain about
water (Christophoridis and Fytianos 2006). The pH is the response of P concentration in overlying water to the
another predominant factor as it affects sorption–adsorp- growth and decay of extensive algae. The objective of this
tion, precipitation–solubilization and oxidation–reduction experiment was to ascertain the effects of algal growth and
reactions through its control over the concentrations of decomposition on P exchange across the sediment–water
available Fe, aluminum, and calcium, thus directly or interface in highly polluted region of Taihu Lake.
indirectly changing the aquatic, biological, and chemical
reactions. In general, P release from sediment is the lowest
in the neutral condition, the P-binding capacity of Fe and Materials and methods
Al compounds decreases as pH increases in alkaline con-
dition due to ligand exchange reactions in which hydroxide Microcosm setup
ions replace orthophosphate ions (Boers 1991; Christo-
phoridis and Fytianos 2006), and P associated with calcium The surface sediment and water were collected from the
decreases as pH increases in acidic condition (Kim et al. Meiliang Bay characterized as one of the most eutrophic bays
2003; Jin et al. 2006). in Taihu Lake (Chuai et al. 2011; Yuan et al. 2014). After we
The growth and decomposition of extensive algae dra- removed the plant residues and shell fragments and
matically modify the water environmental conditions (e.g., homogenized the sediments, all the samples were delivered
pH, oxygen, and light condition) and thereafter may affect to the laboratory for the following incubation experiment.
P dynamics at the sediment–water interface (Xie et al. Cyanobacteria, 91.9 % of which was accounted by Micro-
2003; Zhu et al. 2013). Decomposition of algae depleted cystis spp. (Xie et al. 2003), was collected from the Mengwan
DO, thereby inducing P release from sediment (Zhang et al. Channel in the west of Meiliang Bay, Taihu Lake.
2010; Gao et al. 2013; Zhu et al. 2013). Gao et al. (2013) The incubation included two treatments: sedi-
showed that decomposition of Chaetomorpha spp. pro- ment ? water ? algae (Algae) and sediment ? water as
moted sediment P release obviously through decreasing the control (Control). All treatments were replicated three
DO and pH in Swan Lake at coastal area. Similarly, Zhu times, giving a total of 6 experimental units. Approxi-
et al. (2013) studied the influence of algal degradation on mately 16 L homogenized sediments were placed into each
nutrient release from the sediments in Taihu Lake and of 6 barrels with 45 cm in diameter and 70 cm in height,
concluded that algal decomposition significantly decreased producing a layer 10 cm thick. The barrels were filled with
DO, which resulted in the significant increase in 80 L of lake water collected in situ, producing a water
orthophosphate concentration in overlying water. The column 55 cm high, and let stand for around 24 h. The
effects of algal bloom on pH are dependent on the different general characteristics of the lake water are summarized in
periods. For example, algal growth absorbs massive CO2, Table 1. Three barrels were chosen randomly and trans-
thereby increasing pH of overlying water (Xie et al. 2003). ferred algae, and the rates of application of algae were
However, algal decomposition decreases pH due to CO2 referred to the Chl-a concentration ranging from 78.5 to
release from decomposing organic matter (Garcia-Robledo 978.3 lg L-1 during algal bloom of Taihu Lake in 2007
et al. 2008; Gao et al. 2013). (Qin et al. 2010). The experiment was conducted in the

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Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:57 Page 3 of 9 57

Table 1 The initial values of physical–chemical and nutrients in the lake water
TP (mg L-1) PO43- (mg L-1) TN (mg L-1) NH4? (mg L-1) NO3- (mg L-1) DOC (mg L-1) pH Chl-a

0.119 ± 0.00 0.006 ± 0.00 3.73 ± 0.49 1.70 ± 0.08 0.21 ± 0.01 3.19 ± 1.05 9.09 ± 0.15 72.11 ± 6.82

yard with air temperature and was run for 20 days sampling times for each treatment were analyzed by one-way
(September 2013). There was a light rain around Septem- ANOVA. Statistical tests were considered significant at
ber 6, and the barrels were covered with board to prevent P \ 0.05 level. When treatment effect was significant, least
rain. significant difference (LSD) tests were used to check for
Daily water quality parameters including water tem- quantitative differences between treatments. For all ANO-
perature, DO, oxidation–reduction potential (ORP), and pH VAs, the assumption of normality was checked with Kol-
were measured with a YSI 6600 multi-parameter water mogorov–Smirnov tests, and the assumptions of
quality sonde at around 10:00 am (YSI Incorporated, homogeneity of variances were checked using Levene’s test.
Yellow Springs, USA). Subsequently, water samples were If the assumptions were not met, data were log-transformed
daily collected from 0.3 m below the surface to determine prior to analysis. Correlation analysis (Pearson’s correlation
total phosphorus (TP), dissolved total phosphorus (DTP), coefficients) was used to test the relationships between P and
particle phosphorus (PP), soluble reactive phosphorus other water quality parameters during the whole experiment.
(SRP), nitrate (NO3-), and chlorophyll a (Chl-a). Sedi- Statistical analyses were performed using SAS procedure
ments samples were taken on September 5, 11, 19, and 23 (SAS version 8.1, SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC, USA).
to determine P fractions.

Chemical analysis Results

Concentrations of nutrients and Chl-a of overlying water Environment conditions in the overlying water
were determined according to Jin and Tu (1990). Water
samples were filtered through a glass microfiber filter (GF/C, The changes of Chl-a, water temperature, DO, ORP, and
Whatman, Brentford, UK), and filters were extracted over- pH in overlying water are presented in Fig. 1. During the
night at 4 °C with 95 % ethanol for Chl-a determination. The first 7 days of incubation, Chl-a concentration for the
concentration of SRP in filtered water was determined using Algae treatment decreased to a minimum value of
the molybdenum blue method, and DTP in filtered water and 73.8 lg L-1, following dramatically increased and reached
TP concentrations were analyzed as for SRP, following at a maximum value of 755.5 lg L-1 on September 17,
digestion with alkaline potassium persulfate. PP concentra- then decreased. For the Control treatment, Chl-a ranged
tion was obtained by subtracting DTP from TP. from 7.6 to 38.5 lg L-1 and remained stable throughout
Sediment P fractionation was performed on these sam- the whole experiment. There was no significant difference
ples according to Ruban et al. (2001). The fractions were for water temperature between the Algae and Control
grouped into NaOH-extractable P (NaOH-P, P bound to Al, treatment, and water temperature decreased around
Fe and Mn oxides and hydroxides), HCl-extractable P September 6 due to light rain, subsequently increased, and
(HCl-P, P associated with Ca), organic P (OP), inorganic P kept relative constant. The presence or absence of algae
(IP), and concentrated HCl-extractable P (TP, total P). In a had a marked effect on the DO, ORP, and pH of overlying
separated extraction, IP was extracted by HCl and the water. For example, across the treatments DO concentra-
residual was treated at 450 °C to analyze OP. TP in the tion, ORP, and pH in the overlying water with extensive
sediments was determined by treating the sample at algae were significantly lower than the Control
450 °C, followed by HCl extraction. SRP concentration in (P \ 0.001). DO concentration for the Algae treatment
the supernatant of the extraction was analyzed using the ranged from 0.09 to 0.49 mg L-1 during the first 16 days
molybdenum blue method (Jin et al. 2006). and increased thereafter. During the first 7 days, ORP and
pH for the Algae treatment decreased to the minimum
Statistical analyses value and thereafter increased.

Effects of algal bloom on the physicochemical characteris- Phosphorus concentrations in the overlying water
tics of overlying water and sediments were analyzed by the
repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The Compared with the Control treatment, algae significantly
dynamics of the water quality parameters in different increased P level of overlying water regardless the species

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1000 30
Algae
Control 28
Chlorophyll a (ug L ) 800

Water temperature ( C)
-1

o
600 26

400 24

200 22

0 20
Sep.3 Sep.8 Sep.13 Sep.18 Sep.23 Sep.3 Sep.8 Sep.13 Sep.18 Sep.23

14 100

Oxidation-reduction potential (mV)

12
0
Dissolved oxygen (mg L )
-1

10

-100
8

6
-200

4
-300
2

0 -400
Sep.3 Sep.8 Sep.13 Sep.18 Sep.23 Sep.3 Sep.8 Sep.13 Sep.18 Sep.23

10.0 Days

9.5

9.0
pH

8.5

8.0

7.5

7.0
Sep.3 Sep.8 Sep.13 Sep.18 Sep.23
Days

Fig. 1 Dynamics of chlorophyll a, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, oxidation–reduction potential, and pH of overlying water in the Algae
and Control treatments. Data are mean ± SE

of P (P \ 0.001). The dynamics of P concentration in the more than 50 %, whereas PP decreased during the first
overlying water for the Algae treatment depended on the P 6 days, subsequently increased, and reached at a maximum
species. For example, TP increased continuously with time value of 0.85 mg L-1 on September 12, following a
during the whole experiment and reached at a maximum decrease. The concentrations of all P fractions in the
level of 1.54 mg L-1 in the end. DTP concentration overlying water for the Control treatment remained
increased from 0.01 to 0.73 mg L-1 during the first 7 days stable (Fig. 2).
of incubation. However, the increase in DTP was transi-
tory, decreasing sharply to 0.23 mg L-1 on September 10 Relationship between phosphorus and water quality
(day 8), and subsequently DTP increased again and reached variables
at a maximum value of 1.24 mg L-1 on September 19 (day
16) and then remained stable at the late stage. The SRP In the Algae treatment, TP, DTP, and SRP were positively
concentration ranged from 0.01 to 1.17 mg L-1, and its correlated among each other, whereas PP concentration
dynamics was similar to DTP of which SRP accounted for was correlated significantly and negatively with DTP and

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Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:57 Page 5 of 9 57

2.5 1.0

Partical phosphorus (mg L )

Algae

-1
Total phosphorus (mg L ) 2.0 .8
-1 Control

1.5 .6

1.0 .4

.5 .2

0.0 0.0
Sep.3 Sep.8 Sep.13 Sep.18 Sep.23 Sep.3 Sep.8 Sep.13 Sep.18 Sep.23

1.6 1.4
Dissolved total phosphorus (mg L )

Soluble reactive phosphorus (mg L )

-1

-1
1.4 1.2 Col 38 vs Col 39
Col 38 vs Col 41
1.2
1.0
1.0
.8
.8
.6
.6
.4
.4

.2 .2

0.0 0.0
Sep.3 Sep.8 Sep.13 Sep.18 Sep.23 Sep.3 Sep.8 Sep.13 Sep.18 Sep.23
Days Days

Fig. 2 Dynamics of total phosphorus, dissolved total phosphorus, soluble reactive phosphorus, and particle phosphorus of overlying water in the
Algae and Control treatments. Data are mean ± SE

SRP (P \ 0.001). The concentration of TP, DTP, and SRP 620.0 mg kg-1, respectively. The relative contribution of
showed significantly positive correlations with DO, ORP, IP was the highest, accounting for up to 80.3 % (Fig. 3).
and pH. Chl-a showed a significant positive correlation The P fractions of sediment except NaOH-P in the Algae
with pH and a negative correlation with NO3- concentra- treatment did not significantly differed from those in the
tion (Table 2). However, in the Control treatment, all P Control treatment. Compared with the Control treatment,
fractions were positively correlated among each other, and algae significantly decreased NaOH-P concentration on
TP and PP showed significant positive correlations with September 19 (Fig. 3). The dynamics of P in the sediment
Chl-a. NO3- concentration was negatively correlated with were statistically dependent on the different P fractions and
TP, PP, SRP, and ORP (Table 3). sampling days. For example, in the Algae treatment OP
increased along with the incubation days; however, NaOH-
Phosphorus fractions in the sediment P on September 19 was the lowest and significantly dif-
fered from that on September 5, and the concentration of
In the Algae treatment, sediment TP concentration along HCl-P and IP remained stable during the whole experiment
with different sampling days remained stable and ranged (Fig. 3).
from 613.3 to 618.5 mg kg-1. IP ranged from 465.8 to
481.0 mg kg-1, accounting for 75.6–78.4 % of TP. NaOH-
P ranged from 228.8 to 266.4 mg kg-1, accounting for Discussion
43.1, 40.0, 37.2, and 40.8 % of TP on September 5, 11, 19,
and 23, respectively. OP and HCl-P ranged from 153.1 to The effects of algal bloom on P level in overlying water are
173.6 mg kg-1 and from 158.1 to 165.2 mg kg-1, demonstrated in different respects. On the one hand, the
respectively. In the Control treatment, NaOH-P, HCl-P, IP, algal growth and degradation have opposite influences on P
OP, and TP ranged from 250.3 to 275.2 mg kg-1, from concentration of overlying water through absorbing and
165.8 to 171.5 mg kg-1, from 479.6 to 497.9 mg kg-1, releasing P (Viaroli et al. 1996). During the growth period,
from 156.9 to 170.5 mg kg-1, and from 612.8 to dissolved inorganic nitrogen and P were kept at low levels

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Table 2 Correlation relationships between P and water quality parameters of overlying water in the Algae treatment
TP DTP PP SRP Chl-a Temp. NO3- DO ORP pH

TP 1
DTP 0.891*** 1
PP -0.090 -0.532*** 1
SRP 0.850*** 0.963*** -0.527*** 1
Chl-a 0.150 0.037 0.199 0.043 1
Temp. 0.452*** 0.338** 0.102 0.319 0.277 1
NO3- -0.298* -0.111 -0.312* -0.033 -0.405** -0.226 1
DO 0.395** 0.433*** -0.214 0.454*** -0.247 0.318* -0.157 1
ORP 0.704*** 0.741*** -0.313* 0.748*** -0.061 0.322** -0.428*** 0.644*** 1
pH 0.685*** 0.645*** -0.138 0.648*** 0.264* 0.551*** -0.590*** 0.620*** 0.876*** 1
*, **, *** Statistically significant at P \ 0.05, P \ 0.01, P \ 0.001, respectively

Table 3 Correlation relationships between P and water quality parameters of overlying water in the Control treatment
TP DTP PP SRP Chl-a Temp. NO3- DO ORP pH

TP 1
DTP 0.477*** 1
PP 0.976*** 0.276* 1
SRP 0.374** 0.507*** 0.285* 1
Chl-a 0.469*** 0.112 0.485*** 0.106 1
Temp. 0.226 0.358* 0.159 0.024 0.291* 1
NO3- -0.475*** -0.228 -0.463*** -0.362** -0.228 0.212 1
DO -0.326* -0.349** -0.271* -0.230 0.211 0.204 0.121 1
ORP 0.379** 0.387** 0.320* 0.261* -0.084 0.029 -0.573*** -0.547*** 1
pH 0.046 0.004 0.049 0.006 0.232 0.432*** -0.153 0.674*** -0.163 1
*, **, *** Statistically significant at P \ 0.05, P \ 0.01, P \ 0.001, respectively

700
P concentration for the Control treatment (mg kg )

700
P concentration for the Algae treatment (mg kg )

-1
-1

Sep.5 NS
Sep.11 NS
600 Sep.19 600
Sep.23
NS NS
500 500

400 400

300 a ab b ab 300 NS

b ab ab a NS
200 NS 200 NS

100 100

0 0
NaOH-P HCl-P I-P O-P TP NaOH-P HCl-P I-P O-P TP
P fractions P fractions

Fig. 3 Dynamics of sediment phosphorus fractions in the Algae and Control treatments. Values within each phosphorus fraction followed by the
same letter indicate no significant differences at P \ 0.05 level, and NS means no significant differences at P \ 0.05 level. Data are mean ± SE

due to algal uptake, in contrast during the decomposition overlying water (Gao et al. 2013; Zhu et al. 2013). On the
period 40–65 % of P in algae were released into water other hand, algal growth and decomposition can modify the
(Paalme et al. 2002) and dramatically increased P in the environmental conditions at the sediment–water interface,

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Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:57 Page 7 of 9 57

upon which P release from the sediments was influenced (Søndergaard et al. 2003; Christophoridis and Fytianos
(Xie et al. 2003; Zhu et al. 2013). In water ecosystem, 2006). The NO3- serving as an alternative electron
when large-scale algal bloom accumulated, the effects of acceptor could suppress reduction of Fe(III), thereby sup-
algal decomposition on water quality were reflected in pressing Fe-bound P release from sediments (Sørensen
depressed DO, low pH, the remarkable increase in SRP, 1982; Wauer et al. 2005; Hemond and Lin 2010). Fur-
inorganic nitrogen, and DOC (Chuai et al. 2011; Zhu et al. thermore, 0.5 mg L-1 of NO3- concentration has been
2013). In this study, extensive algae resulted in a distinct shown as a threshold value for suppression of sediment P
decrease in water DO, ORP, and pH, as well as a release (Andersen 1982). In this study, NO3- concentration
remarkable increase in P in overlying water, and dissolved in the Algae treatment increased up to 1.1 mg L-1 on
P showed significant correlations with DO, ORP, and pH, September 9 and then decreased (Fig. 5) because of the
which indicated that extensive algal bloom could increase combined role of the algal blooms and changed tempera-
P level of overlying water mediated by the changed aquatic ture (Malhi and McGill 1982). Furthermore, during the first
environment. 7 days the significant positive correlation (R2 = 0.84,
During the first 7 days of incubation, algae serving as P \ 0.001, F = 116.0) between SRP and NO3- concen-
the extensive algal blooms covered the whole surface of tration might confirm that the increased SRP concentration
water (Fig. 4) and induced an immediate and complete mainly resulted from release of decomposing algae instead
suppression of photosynthetic activity of algae, which of sediment Fe-bound P release.
triggered the algal decomposition. Previous decomposition Around September 10 (day 7), the color of part algae
studies on aquatic algae indicated that the onset of algal changed to green, and Chl-a concentration as a good
decomposition by microbial community was very fast and indicator of phytoplankton biomass began to dramatically
P release from decomposing algae was rapid during the increase and then reached at the maximum, which indi-
initial 6 days (Garcia-Robledo et al. 2008; Chuai et al. cated that algal growth became the dominant process (Xu
2011; Gillan et al. 2012; Gao et al. 2013). For example, et al. 2010; Paerl et al. 2011). Furthermore, the increase in
Gao et al. (2013) showed that SRP concentration of over- pH since September 10 might indicate the period of algal
lying water in Swan Lake increased with time during the growth because the growth of algae, instead of decompo-
first 5 days of incubation due to the rapid release of SRP sition, could contribute to the rise of pH caused by pho-
from the decomposing Chaetomorpha linum. In this study, tosynthetic activity, withdrawing CO2 from the water and
during the first 7 days Chl-a concentration in the Algae shifting the CO2/HCO3-/CO32- equilibrium that controlled
treatment decreased and the overlying water became black pH (Boers 1991; Xie et al. 2003). The concentration of
and smelly, and compared with the Control treatment, algal DTP and SRP dramatically decreased and reached at the
bloom significantly decreased DO, ORP, and pH. There- lowest value on September 11, which might be explained
fore, the first 7 days of incubation could be roughly con- by the algal growth that could absorb massive inorganic
sidered as a period of algal decomposition. The increased P nutrients at the beginning of algal growth. After September
concentration might result from the decomposing algae and 11, the concentration of DTP and SRP showed an
sediment P release induced by low/depletion of DO during increasing trend instead of decline, a possible explanation
algal decomposition (Gao et al. 2013; Zhu et al. 2013). was that the P release from the sediments probably
However, sediment P release is mainly governed by a Fe exceeded the absorbed P through algal growth. Since
trap mechanism. Under anaerobic condition, Fe(III) in the September 11 in the Algae treatment, water DO concen-
sediments is reduced to soluble Fe(II), and subsequently, tration was low and NO3- concentration was around
both Fe and sorbed P are released into overlying water 0.2 mg L-1, which favored the release of Fe-bound P from

Fig. 4 The changes in appearance of algal blooms: a beginning of on September 10, 2013; and d the color of algal bloom changed to
experiment at 14:00 on September 3, 2013; b beginning of experiment green and the Chl-a concentration was kept at a relative high level on
at 19:00 on September 3, 2013; c the color of algal bloom began to September 16, 2013
change into green and algal growth began to be the dominant process

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57 Page 8 of 9 Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:57

1.2 which indicated that algal growth became the dominant

Algae process. The increased water TP, DTP, and SRP concen-
1.0 Control tration during algal growth might result from the Fe-bound
NO3- concentration (mg L )
-1

P release from sediments when DO and NO3- concentra-

.8 tions were kept at low levels. The results in this study
indicate that more attention should be paid to the influence
.6 of algal blooms on sediment P release during algal
decomposition and following algal development when
.4
eutrophication is a main management concern.

.2 Acknowledgments This work was supported by the National Nat-

ural Science Foundation for Youth (41403102) and the National
0.0 Water Pollution Control and Management Technology Major Project
Sep.3 Sep.8 Sep.13 Sep.18 Sep.23 (2012ZX07101-013).
Days

Fig. 5 Dynamics of nitrate concentration of overlying water in the

Algae and Control treatments. Data are mean ± SE References

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the sediments. In addition, sediment NaOH-P in the Algae phosphate release from the sediment. Water Res
treatment on September 19 (day 16) was the lowest and 16(7):1119–1126
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