| Summary: | We set out in this book to present a comprehensive assessment of internal phosphorus (P) loading in lakes, drawing on peer reviewed literature, as well as data and expertise from case studies. Most importantly, our co-authors have imparted hundreds (collectively) of years of expertise in measurement, modelling, and management of internal loading in lakes, producing a comprehensive evidence base with which to inform future practitioners in this field. This expertise spans 16 countries from all continents (with the exception of Antarctica). The introductory chapters provide a blueprint for the study of internal loading in lakes. Our case studies offer impressive data from some of the world’s longest limnological long-term monitoring programmes. Analysis and interpretation of these data are presented to quantify the causes of long-term variation in internal loading in 18 lakes, spanning 16 countries, including three transboundary lakes. Cumulatively, these lakes represent 64,678 km2 lake surface area draining more than 256,673 km2 of catchment surface area (Table 24.1). These case studies offer detailed process understanding with which to examine the responses of internal loading to different elements of environmental change. For example, authors highlight the importance of large scale social change as drivers of legacy P and internal loading in lakes, as well as how agricultural intensification and urbanisation following the Second World War started the accumulation of legacy P in many lake bed sediments, which, today, drives internal loading.
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