Effects of the emergent macrophyte Juncus effusus L. on the chemical composition of interstitial water and bacterial productivity

Release of oxygen from the roots of aquatic macrophytes into anaerobic sediments can affect the quantity of interstitial dissolved organic matter and nutrients that are available to bacteria. Nutrient and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations were compared between subsurface (interstitial) w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biogeochemistry 2000-03, Vol.48 (3), p.307-322
Main Authors: Mann, C.J, Wetzel, R.G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic plants
Bacteria
Carbon
Dissolved organic carbon
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Geochemistry
Juncus effusus
Macrophytes
Marine and continental quaternary
Mineralogy
Nitrogen
Nutrient availability
Nutrient concentrations
Oxygen
Phosphorus
Productivity
Sediments
Silicates
Spring
Surficial geology
Water geochemistry
Wetlands
Winter
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Summary:Release of oxygen from the roots of aquatic macrophytes into anaerobic sediments can affect the quantity of interstitial dissolved organic matter and nutrients that are available to bacteria. Nutrient and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations were compared between subsurface (interstitial) waters of unvegetated sediments and sediments among stands of the emergent herbaceous macrophyte Juncus effusus L. in a lotic wetland ecosystem. Concentrations of inorganic nitrogen (NH4+, NO3-, and NO2-) were greater from sediments of the unvegetated compared to the vegetated zone. DOC concentrations of interstitial waters were greater in sediments of the unvegetated zone both in the winter and spring compared to those from the vegetated zone. Although DOC concentrations in hydrosoils collected from both zones increased from winter to spring, bacterial productivity per mg DOC in spring decreased compared to winter. Greater initial bacterial productivity occurred on DOM collected from the vegetated compared to the unvegetated zone in winter samples (days 1 and 4), with increased bacterial productivity on samples collected from the unvegetated zone at the end of the study (day 20). Bacterial productivity was significantly greater on all sampling days on DOM from vegetated samples compared to unvegetated samples. In nutrient enrichment experiments, bacterial productivity was significantly increased (p < 0.05) with phosphorus but not nitrogen only amendments.
ISSN:0168-2563
1573-515X
DOI:10.1023/A:1006208213821