Wetlands have been shown to have some capacity to retain and store phosphorus, although it has been clearly demonstrated their efficiency is reduced as P loads increase (Qian and Richardson 1997b; Richardson and Qian 1999). Peatlands have a lower capacity to retain P than mineral-based wetlands (Richardson 1985, 1999). Nutrient storage capacity, often a design feature of constructed wetlands, is defined as the total mass per unit area that can be retained permanently by the system. However, high P-loading levels may result in significant ecosystem changes (e.g., altered community structure and diversity as well as increased productivity) and increases in downstream P and N output concentrations (Richardson et al. 1997a; Richardson and Qian 1999). One key question concerns the ability of wetlands like the Everglades to assimilate and store P without causing significant changes in the flora and fauna within the ecosystem. This chapter presents an updated version of our earlier P assimilative capacity analysis (Qian and Richardson 1997b; Richardson and Qian 1999) and relates our phosphorus assimilative capacity (PAC) concept with current Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) P loadings and release concentrations.
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Keywords
- Freshwater Wetland
- Plant Community Structure
- Assimilative Capacity
- Output Concentration
- Piecewise Linear Model
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Richardson, C.J., Qian, S.S. (2008). Long-Term Phosphorus Assimilative Capacity (PAC) in the Everglades. In: Everglades Experiments. Ecological Studies, vol 201. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-68923-4_23
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-68923-4_23
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
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