Nitrogen and phosphorus in lake Ontario tributary waters

Abstract

During the Spring of 1972 through the Spring of 1973 samples of rivers tributary to Lake Ontario and streams in the Genesee River Basin (New York) were analyzed for N and P forms by chemical methods, then incubated in darkness or bioassayed with algae to estimate the percentage of total N, organic N, total P or particulate P which could eventually become available for algal growth in Lake Ontario. The total available P in the river water samples could be estimated by adding to the soluble orthophosphate 0.2 of the difference between the soluble orthophosphate and the total phosphate. The total available N can be estimated from the sum of the inorganic N (NH 3 and NO 3 - ) plus 0.5 times the total organic N concentration © 1978 D. Reidel Publishing Company.