Mitigation of Diffuse Phosphorus Pollution during Rewetting of Fen Peat Soils: A Trans-European Case Study

Abstract

Intensive cultivation of fen peat soils (Eutric Histosols) for agricultural purposes, started in Europe about 250 years ago, resulting in decreased soil fertility, increased oxidation of peat and corresponding CO 2 -emissions to the atmosphere, nutrient transfer to aquatic ecosystems and losses in the total area of the former native wetlands. To prevent these negative environmental effects set-aside programs and rewetting measures were promoted in recent years. Literature results and practical experiences showed that large scale rewetting of intensively used agricultural Histosols may result in the mobilisation of phosphorus (P), its transport to adjacent surface waters and an accelerated eutrophication risk. The paper summarises results from an international European Community sponsored research project and demonstrates how results obtained at different scales and from different scientific disciplines were compiled to derive a strategy to carry out rewetting measures. A decision support system (DSS) for a hydrologically sensitive area in the Droemling catchment in north-eastern Germany was developed and is presented as a tool to regulate rewetting in order to control P release. It is demonstrated that additional

Phosphorus mobilization in rewetted peat and sand at variable flow rate and redox regimes

“…Litaor et al, 2004;Richardson, 1985;Sah and Mikkelsen, 1986;Schlicting et al, 2002). During anoxic conditions redox sensitive Fe(III) oxides are subjected to microbial induced reductive dissolution, which may lead to changes in sorption properties (Heiberg et al, 2010), and concurrent release of Fe(II) and dissolved P. Numerous investigations have reported increased Fe and P concentrations in soil pore water following reduction in soil redox potential Meissner et al, 2008;Moore and Reddy, 1994;Pant et al, 2002;Rupp et al, 2004;Sallade and Sims, 1997;Scalenghe et al, 2002;Young and Ross, 2001). It is thus, widely recognized that restored wetlands could potentially become a source of P that may cause eutrophication in downstream recipients (Aldous et al, 2005;Hoffmann et al, 2009;Pant and Reddy, 2003;Phillips, 2001;Zak et al, 2004).…”

Long-term behavior of groundwater chemistry in a periodically rewetted fen area covered with macrophytes

“…Investigations carried out shortly after the initiation of rewetting processes often exhibited a significant release of NH 4 eN, SRP and DOC (Kiekbusch and Schrautzer, 2007;Zak and Gelbrecht, 2007;Meissner et al, 2008;Finnegan et al, 2014). The authors concluded that these processes enhance eutrophication in water bodies, impairing the surrounding ecosystems.…”

Reversibilidade do fósforo não-lábil em solos submetidos à redução microbiana e química: I - alterações químicas e mineralógicas

“…Os valores de Eh e de pH para E1 (Quadro 2) apresentam-se semelhantes aos encontrados na literatura sobre efeito de ambiente redutivo proporcionado por inundação (Scalenghe et al, 2002;Meissner et al, 2008). Ao aumentar o tempo de contato para 60 dias (E4), com trocas de soluções aos 30 dias (E2) e aos 45 dias (E3), os valores de Eh, de modo geral, voltam a aumentar.…”