Benefits Of Phosphorus

Human activities add nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which cause imbalances in the Everglade water chemistry, disrupting plant communities and altering wildlife

Harmful chemicals, manure, and pollution factor into it. These can cause large amounts of blue-green algae, which can be more of an issue then the nitrates. They take away oxygen from the water which would cause a decrease in organisms. In the article, “The muted voice in water quality debate is finally heard.” Mike Kilen (2016) says, “But while we focus on nitrates, we also can’t forget the dangerous bacteria and blue-green algae increasingly popping up in our rivers that are even more a danger to public health.” So although the fertilizer problem is important, the nitrates and phosphorous is not the only thing to worry

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in our lakes, rivers, streams, and drinking water sources cause the degradation of these water bodies and harm fish, wildlife, and human health." In the 2000 National Water Quality Inventory, states reported that agricultural nonpoint source (NPS) pollution was the leading source of water quality impacts on surveyed rivers and lakes, as well as the second largest source of impairments to wetlands, and a major contributor to contamination of surveyed estuaries and groundwater. Agricultural activities that cause NPS pollution include poorly located or managed animal feeding operations; overgrazing; plowing too often or at the wrong time; and improper, excessive or poorly timed application of pesticides, irrigation water and fertilizer. Since the 1960s, the high input of agriculture production has resulted in the surplus of nitrogen and phosphorus in farm fields, which run off into surface waters. High concentrations of nitrates and phosphates in surface waters could lead to eutrophication and instability of the aquatic ecosystems. Eutrophication is caused by the over-enrichment of water with phosphates and nitrates, a problem that has become a widespread in rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal

The chemicals found in water can be dangerous toward our health. We live near the Great Lakes which supplies 20% of the World’s fresh water. It also has chemicals that threaten the life evolving around the fresh water. There are medical drugs that are being introduced to the fresh water lakes. Stuff like antibiotics and steroids. These pharmaceuticals are posing danger for the environment. This could affect the lake life,s growth.

Phosphorous contained in these shallow ocean sediments can either flow through ocean food webs or can become incorporated into deep ocean sediments which will eventually be uplifted by plate tectonics and start the phosphorous cycle all over again. As previously mentioned, the phosphorus cycle has no atmospheric component. Since phosphorus has no stable atmospheric gas phase, unlike the case for other nutrients such as nitrogen and carbon, ecosystems have to depend primarily on aqueous transfer of this critical nutrient6. Similar to on land, phosphorous is a regulatory element for plant growth in aquatic systems. Dissolved marine phosphorous is a limiting element for biological productivity6, 7, 8 and is probably the most critical regulator of ocean productivity throughout geologic history6, 8. Following the nutrient profile in the world’s oceans, phosphorous concentrations are approach zero in surface waters while phosphate concentrations increase in deep water. The carrying of eroded soils by rivers delivers phosphorous to the oceans. This riverine phosphorous is usually in particulate forms and dissolved forms. Most particulate phosphorous is fixed within mineral lattice thus is unavailable to the active cycle. Consequently, most of the phosphorous weathered from Earth’s continental crust travels to the oceans remaining unaltered. However, the outcome of organic phosphorous

Heavy seasonal rain in rural areas has led to an increase of nutrient loads, from the topsoil into the waterways. This can result in high concentrations of certain chemicals modifying aquatic plants, quality of water affecting the health of trout fish. There are many probable causes resulting to the death of trout fish, which could either be due to the fertiliser or the pH of the stormwater. The main chemicals found in most fertilizer are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, known collectively as NPK. They are the primary nutrients found in commercial fertiliser, each playing a key role in helping the nutrition of the plant. However, the surrounding farms used a fertiliser rich in ammonium, sulphate and phosphate. Due to the wide range of possible

Pollution in surface water can cause nitrates and other nutrients to build up. Ammonia is frequently locate in surface waters surrounding CAFOs. Ammonia grounds oxygen depletion from water, which itself can kill aquatic life existance. Ammonia also converts into nitrates, that could reason nutrient overloads in surface waters (EPA, 1998). Extreme nutrient concentrations, which include nitrogen or phosphorus, can lead to eutrophication and make water inhabitable to fish or indigenous aquatic life (Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, n.d.). Nutrient over-enrichment reasons of algal blooms, or a rapid growth of algae in an aquatic atmosphere (Science Daily, n.d.). Algal blooms can bring a spiral of environmental dificulties to an aquatic system. Huge

Phosphorus is the 11th most abundant resource on plant earth. Phosphorus can neither by synthetically created or destroyed. Although it is theorised that we are approaching a point were we are using it faster than we can extract it from the ground.

The disruption of the phosphorous cycle is not a likely know, reason being is that this cycle is one that’s takes years to complete. When we mine for example we are accelerating the cycle, this effect can cause phosphorous to be found in areas where you would not typically find it, this can affect the cleanliness of fresh water.

One thing that human activities can do is alter transfer rates. In other words, certain actions from humans can cause an excess of nutrients in the environment. One example of this is phosphate heavy animal waste from livestock running off into nearby bodies of water, causing eutrophication. During eutrophication, the body of water becomes overly enriched, causing algae to grow rapidly in the water. When the algae dies, it causes oxygen to become depleted, which is extremely problematic for the fish who live in the water, because without oxygen, the fish will die out. There are other factors that can cause an excess of phosphate to run off into nearby

According to the book Environment, ninth edition – on the chapter fourth The Cycling of Materials within Ecosystems – humans affect the phosphorus cycle by accelerating the long-term loss of phosphorus from the land. For example, when people consume beef from the cattle, more of the phosphate ends up in human wastes that are flushed down toilets into sewer systems. Because sewage treatment rarely removes them, phosphates cause water-quality problems in rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. In addition, phosphorus is a limiting nutrient to plants and algae in certain aquatic ecosystems. Thus, excess phosphorus from fertilizer or sewage can contribute to the enrichment of the water and lead to undesirable changes. Consequently, in 1995 a study cited

Phosphorus is very important in every living cell’s life. Phosphorus is very important for life. Also, it’s uses are very important as well.

The phosphorus cycle is the biogeochemical manner in which phosphorus moves through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. As an essential nutrient for the living process, phosphorus is a major component of nucleic acid and phospholipids, along with being the supportive component in human bones as calcium phosphate. Phosphorus also is necessary for growth in an aquatic ecosystem often as the limiting nutrient, especially in freshwater (OpenStax, 2013).

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant life, but when in excess, it can enhance eutrophication of rivers and lakes (Hem, 1985; Muelle and Helsel, 1996). Phosphorus exists in two main forms in water: soluble and particulate. Total phosphorus includes the soluble and particulate forms. Phosphorus can enter a water body through various means including from point sources such as a waste-water discharge and non-point sources such as agricultural runoff or erosion. Phosphorus has the ability to attach to soil particles (Phillips et al. 2012). Thus, when the soil ends up in a water body as sediment it contains additional phosphorus, which ultimately settles. The sediment now has the potential of acting as a ‘sink’ for phosphorus, and holds it until it is disrupted by certain activities.

In 2014, 43% of all U.S. lakes and reservoirs were classified as impaired due to not fulfilling one or more designated uses; nutrients and agriculture were the primary factor and source causing impairments (U.S. EPA 2014). Commercial fertilizers designed to increase crop productivity can promote biological productivity in waters draining agricultural lands; fertilizers contribute nearly 57,000 tons of total nitrogen into the White River per year (Martin, 1996; Popovičová 2008). The continuous supply of nutrients to a water body can produce algal blooms, intense growth of macrophytes that can lead to dissolved oxygen depletion, and stress on aquatic environments (Dodds and Welch 2000; U.S. EPA 2002, 2012; Søndergaard et al. 2003; USGS 2013, 2014). Eutrophication can adversely influence recreation, drinking water supply, industrial uses, and fisheries due to objectionable appeal, fish kills, influx of sedimentation, taste and odor of drinking water, and increased prices in drinking water treatment (Walker 1983; Carpenter,