We analysed phosphorus retention as the function of external loading, hydraulic turnover time, area and relative depth on the basis of published data on 54 lakes and reservoirs in different climate regions around the world. The results of our study generally supported the earlier suggestion by many authors that the waterbodies with longer hydraulic retention time retain the higher percentage of the externally received phosphorus. We could also partly confirm our hypothesis that the waterbodies with the bigger relative depth might retain higher proportion of the external phosphorus than larger and shallower waterbodies with lower relative depth. The latter assumption was, however, valid only in some specific type of waterbodies ¿ small and medium-sized with the intensive hydraulic turnover. The lakes that received higher areal loading of P also retained more P per m2 but the proportion of the retained external P loading remained generally independent from the amount of areal P input that waterbody received. However the waterbodies with rather small relative depth retained higher proportion of external P input towards the decreasing gradient of the areal P loading.

KOIV Toomas;  NOGES Tiina;  LAAS Alo; 

2010-12-13

SPRINGER

JRC54740

0018-8158,   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC54740,   

10.1007/s10750-010-0411-8,