Water Resources Research Act Program

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Details for Project ID 2018AR405B

Do stream phosphorus dynamics correspond with biological condition in the Lake Conway Point Remove Watershed, Arkansas?

Institute: Arkansas
Year Established: 2018 Start Date: 2018-03-01 End Date: 2019-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $7,677 Total Non-Federal Funds: $18,708

Principal Investigators: Sally Entrekin, Matt Trentman, Jennifer Tank

Project Summary: The goal of this study is to identify sources and patterns of enzymatic activity (as an approximation of phosphorus (P) assimilation) and P sorption/desorption activity in streams within the Lake Conway Point Remove Watershed (LCPR, Hydrologic Unit Code 11110203). LCPR is a priority watershed because of elevated nutrients, ammonia and turbidity/siltation in several stream reaches (Lake Conway Point Remove Watershed Plan, 2016). We have a granted project to monitor surface water nutrient concentrations during variable streamflow; we propose here to study how P moves through streams to affect P immobilization and transport patterns in those same streams. Nutrient enrichment can stimulate algae growth and increase detrital processing to change trophic exchange rates and community composition. By understanding P physical and biological behavior in a suite of streams in north-central Arkansas, we can inform the probability of trophic transfer versus export further in the watershed.