What controls levels of dissolved phosphate and ammonium in surface waters?

Dissolved inorganic nutrient pools are small relative to particulate pools, and dissolved pools turnover rapidly. It has been observed that pools change little from day to day on the sampling scales usually employed. A simple model is presented where uptake and regeneration rates balance to cause a local steady state concentration for dissolved inorganic nutrients. Enrichment and dilution perturbation experiments with lake water support the idea of steady state nutrient concentrations. Although inorganic nutrient concentrations are often controlled by biota, the absolute concentrations present tell little about the activity of that biota.