Phosphorus Spatial Variation and Environmental Buffering Capacity of Mountainous River Bars

• Published in: Water, air, and soil pollution Vol. 234; no. 4; p. 214
• Main Authors: Dou, Chuanbin, Xia, Jihong, Cai, Wangwei, Zeng, Zhuo, Liu, Xiujun, Li, Jingjiang, Zu, Jiayi, Liu, Zewen, Wang, Yue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.04.2023; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Banks (Finance); Bars (landforms); Buffers; Capacity; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental monitoring; Hydrogeology; Land use; Low level; Mountains; Phosphorus; Pollution control; Rivers; Sediments (Geology); Shoals; Slumping; Soil; Soil properties; Soil Science & Conservation; Soil texture; Soils; Spatial variations; Tails; Texture; Water Quality/Water Pollution; Soil Phosphorus; River Bar; Spatial Variation; Mountainous River; Influence Factor; Environmental Buffering Capacity
• ISSN: 0049-6979; 1573-2932
• DOI: 10.1007/s11270-023-06234-7

Mountainous river bars are natural shoals formed in rivers as a result of bank slumping, undercutting, and sediment deposition. We investigated total phosphorus (TP) and available phosphorus (P) spatial variation in soil, factors influencing soil P spatial variation, and the environmental buffering capacity of mountainous river bars. Soil samples were collected at the head, middle, and tail transects of nine bars. Soil TP and available P contents ranged as 357.5–1256.48 mg kg -1 and 5.02–45.79 mg kg -1 , respectively. Soil TP content was at a low level in the study area, whereas soil available P content was at a high level in some bars. Soil TP exhibited an increasing trend from head to tail transects in bars, but a decreasing trend was observed from upper to lower reaches, influenced by location of bars in the river, location of soil in the bar and soil texture. Soil available P showed an increasing trend from head to tail transects in bars and a fluctuation variation trend from upper to lower reaches, influenced by land use and vegetation biomass. The environmental buffering capacity of the bar is the capacity of bar to intercept P migrate from soil to river. Bars in lower reach, with lower height above water surface and narrower width could lead to weaker environmental buffering capacity in mountainous rivers, so more attention should be paid to these bars in order to reduce P pollution effectively.