Periphytic algal community is an important autotrophic component of shallow lakes with clear water states. In order to understand the effect of periphytic algae on phosphorus release from lake sediments, a 13-day laboratory experiment was carried out by using Plexiglas tubes contained sediments from Lake Taihu, which covered with periphytic algae precultivated on nylon nets as treatments and without periphytic algae as controls. The results showed that rates of release of inoiganic phosphorus from sediments in the treatments with periphytic algae were significantly lower than that in the control without periphytic algae. During the experimental period, an average of 1.16mg phosphorus was reduced in treatments comparing with the controls, 70% (0.81 mg) of which was caused by phosphorus uptake of periphytic algae, and 30% (0.35mg) was attributed to reduction in phosphorus release from the sediments due to improved redox condition in sediment surface by photosynthetic activity of periphytic algae. Present study suggests that benthic (periphytic) algae can reduce phosphorus concentration in water by direct uptake and inhibition of sediment phosphorus release.