Author(s)

Jingyu Wang^1,2

¹Chemistry Department, Bronx Community College, City University of New York, New York, USA.
²Geography and Environmental Science Department, Hunter College, New York, USA.

Phosphorus (P) released and transported from wetlands affects wetland ecosystems and surrounding water systems. Sediment samples from the Pelham Bay wetlands in the Bronx, NY, have been collected and analyzed. Analysis of the sorption characteristics, P compound identification and P mineralization, showed significant correlations between the sorption maximum (Smax) and Ox-Fe (r = 0.894), ash-TP and HCl-Ca (r = 0.94), ash-TP and TOC (r = 0.96), as well as TOC vs HCl-Ca (r = 0.93). These results indicate that mineral content affects the OP content and the sorption process. P sorption maxima Smax ranged from 70.4 to 1667 mg/Kg, and the equilibrium P concentration EPC₀ ranged from 0.09 to 0.2 mg/L. The high Smax in most of the sites, fairly high EPC₀ and high percentages of Pr (>96%), indicate substantial amounts of P could be bioavailable for plant uptake in the water column under changing hydro-climatic conditions. Dominant P compounds are dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP), phosphoenolpyruvates (PEP), inosine monophosphate (IMP), glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), nucleoside monophosphates (NMP), glycerophosphate (GlyP), polynucleotides (PolyN), and pyrophosphates (Pyrop). The active P pool could maintain substantial P bioavailability and potentially cause eutrophication. The mineralization of 7, 15 and 30 days in laboratory experiments indicates a decrease of NaHCO₃ and HCl, and an increase of NaOH.

Pelham Bay Wetlands, Phosphorus, Organic Phosphorus, Sorption, 31P-NMR, P Mineralization, Nonflooding Incubation

Wang, J. (2022) Phosphorus Flux from the Pelham Bay Wetlands, Bronx, New York. Journal of Environmental Protection, 13, 360-383. doi: 10.4236/jep.2022.135023.