Abstract: Fifteen sediment cores were sampled from the representative reaches of the Shiwuli River, Chaohu Lake, and analyzed in order to study the content levels, spatial distribution characteristics and correlation of bio-available nitrogen and phosphorus in the surface sediments (0-10 cm). The results showed that there was significant spatial variability of the content levels of various forms (IEF, WAEF, SAEF and SOEF) of bio-available nitrogen and phosphorus among the fifteen sampling sites. Generally, the four bio-available nitrogen forms comprised 53.4% to 67.9% of the total nitrogen (TN), and the content levels followed the sequence: w(SOEF-N)＞w(IEF-N)＞w(SAEF-N)＞w(WAEF-N), of which the w(SOEF-N) was 411.35-965.47 mg/kg with a proportion of 33.4%-43.7%. The four bio-available phosphorus forms comprised 47.3% to 89.4% of the total phosphorus (TP), and the content levels followed the sequence:w(SAEF-P)＞w(SOEF-P)＞w(WAEF-P)＞w(IEF-P), of which the w(SAEF-P) was 311.74-960.33 mg/kg with a proportion of 33.0%-78.0%. There was weak correlation between the four bio-available nitrogen forms. Meanwhile, w(IEF-N) had negative correlations with w(WAEF-N) and w(SAEF-N), with correlation coefficients of -0.042 and -0.122, respectively. The correlation coefficients between w(WAEF-N), w(SAEF-N) and w(SOEF-N) varied from 0.32 to 0.513. However, notable correlations could be found for the bio-available phosphorus forms. In particular, there was significant and positive correlation between w(IEF-P) and w(WAEF-P), with correlation coefficient of 0.527, and highly significant correlation between w(WAEF-P) and w(SAEF-P), with correlation coefficient of 0.653. Generally, no significant correlations could be found between the four bio-available nitrogen and bio-available phosphorus forms in the sediments of Shiwuli River, Chaohu Lake.