Short-ra.nge atmospheric transport: A significant source of phosphorus to an oligotrophic lake

During summer stratification, particles transported by wind from surrounding forest were a major source of P into Mirror Lake, a small, oligotrophic lake in New Hampshire. These particles consisted largely of terrestrial insects, insect parts, and plant fragments of various sizes. This atmospheric fallout ofP was greatest near the shoreline and decreased exponentially with increasing ,distance from shore. Integrated for the entire 1%ha lake, it represented an input of 11-13 ymol P mm-2 d-l of lake surface in midsummer. The input of P from atmospheric fallout was highly significant to the summer P economy of the lake and was 50-fold to 70-fold greater than the input of P in either streamflow or rainfall in the same period.