The NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. Karst landscapes are often perceived as highly vulnerable to agricultural phosphorus (P) loss, via 14 solution-enlarged conduits that bypass P retention processes. Although attenuation of P 15 concentrations has been widely reported within karst drainage, the extent to which this results from 16 hydrological dilution, rather than P retention, is poorly understood. This is of strategic importance 17 for understanding the resilience of karst landscapes to P inputs, given increasing pressures for 18 intensified agricultural production. Here, hydrochemical tracers were used to account for dilution of 19 P, and to quantify net P retention, along transport pathways between agricultural fields and 20 emergent springs, for the karst of the Ozark Plateau, mid-continent USA. Up to ~70% of the annual 21 total P flux and 90% of the annual soluble reactive P flux was retained, with preferential retention of 22 the most bioavailable (soluble reactive) P fractions. Our results suggest that, in some cases, karst 23 drainage may provide a greater P sink than previously considered. However, the subsequent 24 remobilization and release of the retained P may become a long-term source of slowly-released 25
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