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Runoff and soil losses from agricultural fields are investigated as major nonpoint sources of phosphorus (P) entering lakes of Eastern China. There is relatively little information on P transport from ricefield and cropland of Lake Taihu watershed in Eastern China. Soil and P in surface runoff from a series of plots in the watershed were evaluated under simulated rainfall conditions. The objectives of this study were to evaluate theeffects of crop cover, slope, and fertilizer application on P concentrations in surface runoff and eroded soil. Accumulated sediment yields varied from 7.1 to 300 g/m2 for croplands, depending on management practices. For all experiment plots, weighted average concentrations of total-P (TP), dissolved P (DP) and particulate P (PP) are much higher than 0.02 mg/L, the limiting concentration in lake water. This result showed the potential contamination of lake water from agricultural surface runoff. Accumulated TP losses were 3.8 and 18.8 mg/m2 for ricefield and cropland, respectively. The estimated annual loss of TP was 0.74 kg/(hm2) for cropland. Most of P loss is in PP form, which accounts for more than 90% of TP loss for cropland.
