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PHOSPHORUS CYCLING IN AN EELGRASS ( ZOSTERA MARINA L.) ECOSYSTEM 1
Author(s) -
McRoy C. Peter,
Barsdate Robert J.,
Nebert Mary
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1972.17.1.0058
Subject(s) - zostera marina , phosphorus , cycling , bay , estuary , environmental chemistry , phosphate , chemistry , seagrass , ecology , biology , oceanography , ecosystem , geology , history , organic chemistry , archaeology
Rates of uptake and excretion of phosphorus by both roots and leaves of eelgrass ( Zostera marina L.) were dependent on the orthophosphate concentration of the medium. In a typical shallow tidal pool dominated by eelgrass, the interstitial reactive phosphorus concentrations of the sediments were as high as 75 µ g‐atom/liter, while in the water they were ca. 2. The plants absorbed 166 mg P/m 2 ‐day from the sediments, assimilated 104 in the production of fresh eelgrass, and excreted 62 into the water. An amount equivalent to about 41% of the reactive phosphorus excreted, or 3 metric tons P/day, was exported from the lagoon into the Bering Sea. These results add a new pathway to the phosphorus cycle for estuaries containing vascular plants.