Why is phosphorus important for plants?

Phosphorus is the main element restricting the growth of plants and algae in aquatic ecosystems. Nitrate dissolves relatively easily in water and is therefore better available, but phosphorus is less mobile and therefore hard to come by.Phosphorus is released from rocks during their weathering, and are typically bound to soil particles. However, phosphorus can only reach water together with the particles (mostly during erosion). In some cases, for example from anoxic sediment in a lake the previously bound phosphorus will suddenly turn water-soluble and algae and plants can use it as a nutrient source.

Vertebrates contain most of their phosphorus in the bones, or in the case of fish, in the scales (approximately 90% of all phosphorus resources). Phosphorus is crucial for various processes of a body, such as supplying energy for the cells or copying the genome of the cell during division.