The regulatory effects of environmental factors on denitrification were studied in the sediments of Meiliang Bay, Taihu Lake, in a monthly sampling campaign over a one-year period. Denitrification rates were measured in slurries of field samples and enrichment experiments using the acetylene inhibition technique. Sediment denitrification rates in inner bay and outer bay ranged from 2.8 to 51.5 nmol N2/(g dw (dry weight)·hr) and from 1.5 to 81.1 nmol N2/(g dw·hr), respectively. Sediment denitrification rates were greatest in the spring and lowest in the summer and early autumn, due primarily to seasonal differences in nitrate concentration and water temperature. For each site, positive and linear relationships were regularly observed between denitrification rate and water columnn itrate concentration. Of various environmental factors on denitrification that we assessed, nitrate was determined to be the key factor limiting denitrification rates in the sediments of Meiliang Bay. In addition, at the two sites denitrification rates were also regulated by temperature. The addition of organic substrates had no significant effect on denitrification rate, indicating that sediment denitrification was not limited by organic carbon availability in the sediments. Nitrate in the water column was depleted during summer and early autumn, and this suppressed effective removal of nitrogen from Taihu Lake by denitrification.
Jicheng Zhong, Chengxin Fan, Guofeng Liu, Lei Zhang, Jingge Shang, Xiaozhi GuState Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
An experiment for studying the effects of sediment dredging on denitrification in sediments was carried out through a one-year incubation of undredged (control) and dredged cores in laboratory. Dredging the upper 30 cm of sediment can significantly affect physico-chemical characteristics of sediments. Less degradation of organic matter in the dredged sediments was found during the experiment. Denitrification rates in the sediments were estimated by the acetylene blockage technique, and ranged from 21.6 to 102.7 nmol N2/(g dry weight (dw)·hr) for the undredged sediment and from 6.9 to 26.9 nmol N2/(g dw·hr) for dredged sediments. The denitrification rates in the undredged sediments were markedly higher (p<0.05) than those in the dredged sediments throughout the incubation, with the exception of February 2006. The importance of various environmental factors on denitrification was assessed, which indicated that denitrification was regulated by temperature. Nitrate was probably the key factor limiting denitrification in both undredged and dredged sediments. Organic carbon played some role in determining the denitrification rates in the dredged sediments, but not in the undredged sediments. Sediment dredging influenced the mineralization of organic matter and denitrification in the sediment; and therefore changed the pattern of inherent cycling of nitrogen.
Jicheng ZhongChengxin FanLu ZhangEdward HallShiming DingBao LiGuofeng Liu
