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- Title
Does freshwater connectivity influence phosphorus retention in lakes?
- Authors
Stachelek, Joseph; Soranno, Patricia A.
- Abstract
Lake water residence time and depth are known to be strong predictors of phosphorus (P) retention. However, there is substantial variation in P retention among lakes with the same depth and residence time. One potential explanatory factor for this variation is differences in freshwater connectivity of lakes (i.e., the type and amount of freshwater connections to a lake), which can influence watershed P trapping or the particulate load fraction of P delivered to lakes via stream connections. To examine the relationship between P retention and connectivity, we quantified several different measures of connectivity including those that reflect downstream transport of material (sediment, water, and nutrients) within lake‐stream networks (lake‐stream‐based metrics) as well as those that reflect transport of material from hillslope and riparian areas adjacent to watershed stream networks (stream‐based metrics). Because it is not always clear what spatial extent is appropriate for determining functional differences in connectivity among lakes, we compared connectivity metrics at two important spatial extents: the lake subwatershed extent and the lake watershed extent. We found that variation in P retention among lakes was more strongly associated with connectivity metrics measured at the broader lake watershed extent rather than metrics measured at the finer lake subwatershed extent. Our results suggest that both connectivity between lakes and streams as well as connectivity of lakes and their terrestrial watersheds influence P retention.
- Subjects
PHOSPHORUS in water; LAKES; RIPARIAN areas; FRESH water; PHOSPHORUS; WATERSHEDS
- Publication
Limnology & Oceanography, 2019, Vol 64, Issue 4, p1586
- ISSN
0024-3590
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/lno.11137