Predicting particulate pools of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic carbon in lakes

• The variation between lakes with respect to concentrations of particulate nutrient pools was studied in 126 Norwegian lakes covering a wide range in lake-specific properties. Particulate phosphorus (P) always constituted close to 60% of total P (TP) concentrations. Particulate nitrogen (N) and organic carbon (C) concentrations, on the other hand, were sensitive to several lake characteristics, particularly to TP concentrations. Through optimisation procedures and multivariate regression, the present study presents general empirical models for predicting particulate nutrient concentrations. Furthermore, significant trend shifts in the relationships between TP vs. particulate N and TP vs. particulate organic C were observed at TP = 6 mu g l(-1) and TP = 80 mu g l(-1), suggesting non-linearities in these relationships along the TP gradient. A trend shift in the TP vs. chlorophyll relationship was observed at TP = 90. Taking such non-linearities into account may decrease the uncertainty in predicting particulate N, particulate organic C and chlorophyll.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

particles

trend shifts

nutrients

Biology

Biologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)