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| Stormwater treatment areas (STAs) are being used as buffers to reduce P in surface runoff discharged from Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) before they enter the Water conservation areas(WCAs)1 and 2A. The watercolumn TP concentrations have to be in compliance with those set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (TP � 10 μg P l-1). The dominant residual P in the effluents is in organic form (DOP) that can be easily removed from the watercolumn by the microbial and algal P assimilation once it is hydrolyzed to orthophosphate form by phosphatase. High production of phosphatase in periphyton therefore enables us to employ these natural assemblages of bacteria and algae as a tool to reduce residual P. In order to investigate means to augment the removal rate of residual P from the STA effluents researchers from the University of Florida, (Soil and Water Science Department), in cooperation with and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), planned to conduct several controlled field and laboratory experiments on enzymatic hydrolysis of dissolved and particulate organic phosphorus (P) in the effluents of stormwater treatment areas (STAs), and (2) characterize the microbial assemblages responsible for production of enzymes capable of hydrolyzing organic P, and (3) evaluate new approaches to induce phosphatase enzyme production in microbial mats and its effect on hydrolysis of organic P in the effluent. |
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