Assessment of the Utility of Chemical Pretreatments for Estimating Carbon and Phosphorus Sequestration in Soils by 13C and 31P NMR Spectrscopy [sic]
Burial of phosphorus associated with organic matter has been reported as a major mechanistic sink for phosphorus in wetlands. Wetland soils tend to accumulate organic matter due to the production of detrital (plant) material from wetland biota and the suppressed rates of decomposition. Soil accretion rates for constructed wetlands are on the order of millimeters per year, although accretion rates in productive natural systems such as the Everglades have been reported as high as one centimeter per year or more. Current design of constructed wetlands for phosphorus removal is based upon this soil accretion. The rate of phosphorus accretion through this process is used to calculate the area needed to meet designed effluent criteria. However, although much of the phosphorus added to wetlands is retained within the system, this can serve as a phosphorus source to the water column for long periods of time, even after external loads are reduced.