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The fate of nitrate in intertidal permeable sediments.

ABSTRACT: Coastal zones act as a sink for riverine and atmospheric nitrogen inputs and thereby buffer the open ocean from the effects of anthropogenic activity. Recently, microbial activity in sandy permeable sediments has been identified as a dominant source of N-loss in coastal zones, namely through denitrification. Some of the highest coastal denitrification rates measured so far occur within the intertidal permeable sediments of the eutrophied Wadden Sea. Still, denitrification alone can often account for only half of the substantial nitrate (NO3-) consumption. Therefore, to investigate alternative NO3- sinks such as dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), intracellular nitrate storage by eukaryotes and isotope equilibration effects we carried out 15NO3- amendment experiments. By considering all of these sinks in combination, we could quantify the fate of the 15NO3- added to the sediment. Denitrification was the dominant nitrate sink (50-75%), while DNRA, which recycles N to the environment accounted for 10-20% of NO3- consumption. Intriguingly, we also observed that between 20 and 40% of 15NO3- added to the incubations entered an intracellular pool of NO3- and was subsequently respired when nitrate became limiting. Eukaryotes were responsible for a large proportion of intracellular nitrate storage, and it could be shown through inhibition experiments that at least a third of the stored nitrate was subsequently also respired by eukaryotes. The environmental significance of the intracellular nitrate pool was confirmed by in situ measurements which revealed that intracellular storage can accumulate nitrate at concentrations six fold higher than the surrounding porewater. This intracellular pool is so far not considered when modeling N-loss from intertidal permeable sediments; however it can act as a reservoir for nitrate during low tide. Consequently, nitrate respiration supported by intracellular nitrate storage can add an additional 20% to previous nitrate reduction estimates in intertidal sediments, further increasing their contribution to N-loss.

SUBMITTER: Marchant HK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4134218 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Sandy surface sediments of tidal flats exhibit high microbial activity due to the fast and deep-reaching transport of oxygen and nutrients by porewater advection. On the other hand during low tide, limited transport results in nutrient and oxygen depletion concomitant to the accumulation of microbial metabolites. This study represents the first attempt to use flow-through reactors to investigate virus production, virus transport and the impact of tides and season in permeable sediments. The reactors were filled with intertidal sands of two sites (North beach site and backbarrier sand flat of Spiekeroog island in the German Wadden Sea) to best simulate advective porewater transport through the sediments. Virus and cell release along with oxygen consumption were measured in the effluents of reactors during continuous flow of water through the sediments as well as in tidal simulation experiments where alternating cycles with and without water flow (each for 6 h) were operated. The results showed net rates of virus production (0.3-13.2 × 106 viruses cm-3 h-1) and prokaryotic cell production (0.3-10.0 × 105 cells cm-3 h-1) as well as oxygen consumption rates (56-737 ?mol l-1 h-1) to be linearly correlated reflecting differences in activity, season and location of the sediments. Calculations show that total virus turnover was fast with 2 to 4 days, whereas virus-mediated cell turnover was calculated to range between 5-13 or 33-91 days depending on the assumed burst sizes (number of viruses released upon cell lysis) of 14 or 100 viruses, respectively. During the experiments, the homogenized sediments in the reactors became vertically structured with decreasing microbial activities and increasing impact of viruses on prokaryotic mortality with depth. Tidal simulation clearly showed a strong accumulation of viruses and cells in the top sections of the reactors when the flow was halted indicating a consistently high virus production during low tide. In conclusion, cell lysis products due to virus production may fuel microbial communities in the absence of advection-driven nutrient input, but are eventually washed off the surface sediment during high tide and being transported into deeper sediment layers or into the water column together with the produced viruses.

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The fate of nitrate in intertidal permeable sediments.

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