Organic Phosphorus in Shallow Lake Sediments in Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River Area in China

Thirteen sediment core samples(0-10 cm) were taken from the seven lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to determine the contents and distributions of organic phosphorus(P) fractions in the sediments of the shallow lakes in the area.The organic P fractions in the sediments were in the order of moderately labile organic P(MLOP) > moderately resistant organic P(MROP) > highly resistant organic P(HROP) > labile organic P(LOP),with average proportional ratios of 13.2:2.8:1.3:1.0.LOP,MLOP,and MROP were significantly related to the contents of total organic carbon(TOC),water-soluble P(WSP),algal-available P(AAP),NaHCO3-extractable P(Olsen-P),total P(TP),organic P(OP),and inorganic P(IP).However,HROP was significantly related to OP and weakly correlated with TOC,WSP,AAP,Olsen-P,TP or IP.This suggested that organic P,especially LOP and MLOP in sediments,deserved even greater attention than IP in regards to lake eutrophication.In terms of organic P,sediments were more hazardous than soils in lake eutrophication.Although OP concentrations were higher in moderately polluted sediment than those in heavily polluted sediment,LOP and MLOP were higher in the heavily polluted sediment,which indicated that heavily polluted sediment was more hazardous than moderately polluted sediment in lake eutrophication.

Effects of chitosan on growth of an aquatic plant (Hydrilla verticillata) in polluted waters with different chemical oxygen demands

Effects of chitosan on a submersed plant, HydriUa verticillata, were investigated. Results indicated that H. verticillata could prevent ultrastructure phytotoxicities and oxidativereaction from polluted water with high chemical oxygen demand （COD）. Superoxide dismutase （SOD） activity and malondialdehyde （MDA） contents in H. verticillata treated with 0.1% chitosan in wastewater increased with high COD （980 rag/L） and decreased with low COD （63 mg/L）, respectively. Ultrastructural analysis showed that the stroma and grana of chloroplast basically remained normal. However, plant ceils from the control experiment （untreated with chitosan） were vacuolated and the cell interval increased. The relict of protoplast moved to the center, with cells tending to disjoint. Our findings indicate that wastewater with high COD concentration can cause a substantial damage to submersed plant, nevertheless, chitosan probably could alleviate the membrane lipid peroxidization and ultrastructure phytotoxicities, and protect plant cells from stress of high COD concentration polluted water.

Influence of phosphorus on Microcystis growth and the changes of other environmental factors

The growth processes of Microcystis aeruginosa （FACHB-41） in simulated Taihu Lake water with different phosphorus concentrations were investigated using laboratory microcosms. The algal biomass increased with the increase of phosphorus concentration when it was lower than 0.445 mg/L, while the dissolved oxygen （DO） and pH increased, dissolved inorganic nitrogen （DIN） and light intensity underwater（I） decreased. Responding to the changes of the “environmental factors”, the cellular carbohydrate and its ratio to cellular protein decreased generally as phosphorus increased. However, when phosphorus concentration was higher than l. 645 mg/L, the biomass, the “environmental factors”, the cellular carbohydrate and its ratio to cellular protein did not change likewise. Since the environmental factors and the physiological and biochemical responses are important factors, the change of environmental factors and cell physiology and biochemistry induced by phosphorus may become the key factors that steer the growth and dominance of Microcystis under certain conditions. To sum up, phosphorus not only stimulate the growth of Microcystis directly by supplying nutrient element, but also has complex interactions with other “environmental factors” and play important roles in the growth processes of Microcystis .

Equilibrium and kinetics of copper(Ⅱ) biosorption by Myriophyllum spicatum L.

The potential use of Myriophyllum spicatum L. biomass as a biosorbent for the removal of copper（ Ⅱ ） from aqueous solution was investigated in laboratory condition. The sorption experiments were undertaken to obtain copper（ Ⅱ ） biosorption properties of M. spicatum L., i.e. equilibrium time, the maximum capacity, and rate constants. Copper（ Ⅱ ） biosorption was fast and equilibrium was attained within 35 min at initial copper（ Ⅱ ） concentration of 6 mg/L. Different isotherm models including the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Redlich-Peterson model, were used to investigate the sorption capacity and isotherm. These models showed an excellent match with the experimental data except for the Freundlich model. According to the Langmuir coefficients, the maximum sorption capacity of copper onto M. spicatum L. was 10.80 mg/g. The kinetics of copper（ Ⅱ ） sorption was also analysed and rate constants were derived. It was found that the overall sorption process was best described by the pseudo second-order equation, and that intraparticle diffusion was not the rate determining step. The results of this study showed that M. spicatum L. can be considered as useful vehicles for the removal and recovery of copper（ Ⅱ ） from aqueous solutions.