Human alterations to global riverine phosphorus fluxes to the ocean.

ABSTRACT: Rivers regulate land-ocean total phosphorus (TP) fluxes critical to ecosystem health and food security, yet global dynamics remain poorly understood due to limited observations. Here, we develop a machine learning framework integrating multimodal data and 280,000 TP measurements to reconstruct TP flux patterns over 1980-2019 across 420 major rivers. Results reveal a deceptive global equilibrium. While TP flux declines in the Northern Hemisphere, driven by dam trapping, particularly in Western Europe (-16.2%) and Eastern Asia (-8.7%), it rises in the Southern Hemisphere due to increased fertilizer use and deforestation, especially in Southern Africa (+15%) and the Malay Archipelago (+20.3%). Notably, the number of small rivers with rising TP flux is nearly double that of large rivers. This

SUBMITTER: Liu G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12700188 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature