Bioavailability of Organic Phosphorus in a Submerged Aquatic Vegetation–Dominated Treatment Wetland

Enzymatic hydrolysis and mineralization of organic phosphorus (P) were determined in surface water samples collected from inflow and outflow of a submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV)–dominated treatment wetland of the Florida Everglades. Water samples were fractionated into three size fractions (>0.4 μm, 0.05 μm, and 0.4 μm had been mineralized the most. Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy showed that surficial sediments from the inflow region contained a high proportion of polynucleotides, nucleoside monophosphates, and previously unreported glycerophosphoethanolamine and phosphoenolpyruvates. However, at the outflow, the relative proportion of polynucleotides and nucleoside monophosphates was reduced substantially. This suggests that the SAV wetland may sequester P via accretion of organic matter.