Apatite-P as an Indictor of Past Land Use
Persistent URL
Author(s)
Dille, Kimberly
Date Issued
April 1, 2009
Abstract
Eutrophication is a growing problem in the US as a result of nonpoint source pollution caused by changes in land use. Apatite phosphorus (P) concentrations in soils, stream seston and lake sediments may reflect land use. Apatite P was on average 2.5 time higher in agricultural soil than forested soil for the six soil types tested and ranged from 1.2 to 176.3 μg P/g soil. Data from 13 second and third order streams indicate that apatite P is proportional to the total phosphorus and particulate phosphorus being exported by a the watersheds, 9.6 ±_0.4% of the streams total P and 15.2 ± 0.9% of particulate P. These percents could allow prediction to be made about historic lake P loads based on historic apatite loads. In two lake cores, apatite P accumulation rates increased at the time when farming in northwestem Pennsylvanian rapid increased.
Major
Biology
First Reader(s)
Ostrofsky, Milton L.
Other Reader(s)
Coenen, Catharina
Department
Biology
Type of Publication
Senior Project Paper
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Name
2008_09_Dille_Apatite-P.pdf
Description
Senior Project
Size
2.73 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
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