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Enhancement of sediment phosphorus release during a tunnel construction across an urban lake (Lake Donghu, China)

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Abstract

Tunnel construction in watershed area of urban lakes would accelerate eutrophication by inputting nutrients into them, while mechanisms underlying the internal phosphorus cycling as affected by construction events are scarcely studied. Focusing on two main pathways of phosphorus releasing from sediment (enzymatic mineralization and anaerobic desorption), spatial and temporal variations in phosphorus fractionation, and activities of extracellular enzymes (alkaline phosphatase, β-1,4-glucosidase, leucine aminopeptidase, dehydrogenase, lipase) in sediment were examined, together with relevant parameters in interstitial and surface waters in a Chinese urban lake (Lake Donghu) where a subaqueous tunnel was constructed across it from October 2013 to July 2014. Higher alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) indicated phosphorus deficiency for phytoplankton, as illustrated by a significantly negative relationship between APA and concentration of dissolved total phosphorus (DTP). Noticeably, in the construction area, APAs in both sediment and surface water were significantly lower than those in other relevant basins, suggesting a phosphorus supply from some sources in this area. In parallel, its sediment gave the significantly lower iron-bound phosphorus (Fe(OOH)∼P) content, coupled with significantly higher ratio of iron (II) to total iron content (Fe2+/TFe) and dehydrogenase activities (DHA). Contrastingly, difference in the activities of sediment hydrolases was not significant between the construction area and other basins studied. Thus, in the construction area, subsidy of bioavailable phosphorus from sediment to surface water was attributable to the anaerobic desorption of Fe(OOH)∼P rather than enzymatic mineralization. Finally, there existed a significantly positive relationship between chlorophyll a concentration in surface water and Fe(OOH)∼P content in sediment. In short, construction activities within lakes may interrupt cycling patterns of phosphorus across sediment-water interface by enhancing release of redox-sensitive phosphate, and thereby facilitating phytoplankton growth in water column.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the grants from the National Natural Science Funds of China (Nos. 41230748; 41173081; and 41073066), tunnel construction project “key techniques of water pollution disposal and comprehensive environmental control under the severe anthropogenic disturbance” and the State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology (2014FBZ01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Siyang Wang, Jian Xiao, Yiyong Zhou, Chunlei Song, Yonghong Bi & Xiuyun Cao

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China

    Siyang Wang & Jian Xiao

  3. College of Biological and A&F Engineering, Tongren University, Tongren, Guizhou, 554300, China

    Hui Li

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  1. Siyang Wang
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  2. Hui Li
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  3. Jian Xiao
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  4. Yiyong Zhou
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  5. Chunlei Song
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  7. Xiuyun Cao
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Correspondence to Xiuyun Cao.

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Wang, S., Li, H., Xiao, J. et al. Enhancement of sediment phosphorus release during a tunnel construction across an urban lake (Lake Donghu, China). Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 17774–17783 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6949-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6949-x

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