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Nutrient Chemistry of Loch Leven, Kinross

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

A. V. Holden  and
L. A. Caines
A. V. Holden
Affiliation:
Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory, Pitlochry.
L. A. Caines
Affiliation:
Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory, Pitlochry.
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Synopsis

A study has been made of the supply and utilisation of nitrogen and phosphorus in Loch Leven, a shallow eutrophic lake receiving discharges from sewage treatment plants, industry and agricultural sources. Calculations of the nutrient budgets over a period of several years indicate that nitrogen enters primarily as nitrate derived from agricultural fertilisers, in quantities more than sufficient to sustain the dense algal blooms which occur. Much of the nitrate appears to be removed by benthic algae, or other processes associated with the sediments, and a high proportion of the incoming nitrogen is retained in the lake.

Phosphorus enters the lake mainly from industry, with some contribution from sewage and agriculture, and a high proportion is discharged at the outflow. The algal blooms require more phosphate than is present in solution initially, and utilise it at rates greater than that of the inflowing sources, and it is deduced that the additional phosphate is derived from the sediments. A mechanism for such a release, occurring in the absence of stratification, is postulated, and the processes involved in the return of phosphorus to the sediments are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 74 , 1974 , pp. 101 - 121
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1974

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References

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