Evaluation of Legacy Phosphorus Storage and Release from Wetland Soils

To better manage legacy phosphorus (P) in watersheds, reliable techniques to predict P storage and release from uplands, ditches, streams, and wetlands must be developed. Techniques such as the P saturation ratio (PSR) and the soil P storage capacity (SPSC), originally developed for upland soils, are hypothesized to be applicable to wetland soils as well. Surface soils were collected from eight beef ranches within the Lake Okeechobee Watershed, FL, to obtain a threshold PSR value and to evaluate the use of PSR and SPSC for identifying legacy P storage and release from wetland soils. Water‐soluble P (WSP) was determined for all soils; the equilibrium P concentration (EPC0) was determined for selected soils through the generation of Langmuir isotherms. The threshold PSR for wetland soils, calculated from P, Fe, and Al in a Mehlich 1 solution, was determined to be 0.1; SPSC, calculated using the threshold PSR, was found to be related to WSP. When SPSC was positive, WSP and EPC0 were minimal. However, both WSP and EPC0 increased once SPSC became negative. Organic matter (OM) varied from 0.4 to 90 g kg−1 for both positive and negative SPSC, suggesting that OM in wetland soils does not have any effect on P retention and release below the threshold PSR. Moreover, when a wetland or drainage ditch is heavily P impacted, it could be a P source; wetland vegetation may no longer be able to assimilate additional P, resulting in P loss from the soil. This study suggests that the PSR–SPSC concept could be a valuable tool for evaluating legacy P release from wetlands. Core Ideas Concept developed for managing legacy phosphorus in wetland soils. Determine equilibrium phosphorus concentration from soil test data. Predict whether a given wetland is a phosphorus source or sink.