Benthic microbial activity in an Antarctic coastal sediment at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands

Microbial activity in a marine sediment in Factory Cove, Signy Island (60°43′S, 45°38′W), South Orkney Islands in the maritime Antarctic was examined during December 1987 and January 1988. The sediment was bioturbated by a dense amphipod population in the surface layer but oxygen penetrated to a depth of only 1·7 mm. The top 1 cm was light coloured and contained negligible concentrations of acid-volatile sulphides. Below 1 cm the sediment was black and contained abundant sulphides. Sulphate reduction rates averaged 6·87 × 10−1 μmol sulphate cm−2d−1 over the 0–15 cm horizon, equivalent to 1·38 μmol organic carbon oxidized cm−2d−1. Of the sulphate reduced, 60% was to tin-reducible products (including pyrite) and 40% to acid-volatile sulphides. Annual sulphate reduction was at least 250 μmol sulphate cm−2y−1. The sea water temperature varied only between −1·8−1 °C, but the optimum temperature for sulphate reduction was 21 °C. Oxygen uptake by the benthos averaged 5·33 μmol oxygen cm−2d−1, equivalent to 5·33 μmol organic carbon oxidized cm−2d−1. Aerobic respiration accounted for 79% of the organic carbon mineralization and sulphate reduction for 21%

Sediment-water fluxes of nutrients in an Antarctic coastal environment: influence of bioturbation

Rates of exchanges of nitrate and ammonium across the sediment-water interface were measured in an inshore marine environment at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica, over 6 months from August 1991 to February 1992. The sediment was a source of ammonium to the water column but a sink of nitrate, although nitrate exchange rates were very variable. Concentration profiles of nitrate and ammonium in the sediment porewater corroborated the measured vertical exchanges. Bioturbation, by a largely amphipod benthic infauna which was confined to the top 2 cm of sediment, was investigated experimentally. Removal of bioturbation depressed sedimentary O2 uptake by 33% and sedimentary release of NH4+ by 50%. In contrast, in the absence of bioturbation, the removal of NO3− from the water column by the sediment increased in rate. The measured fluxes of ammonium and nitrate from the sediment did not match with the amount of nitrogen mineralised within the sediment, and urea may account for the difference. It is suggested that the export of nitrogen from the bottom sediment may be significant in sustaining primary production in the Antarctic inshore environment. Ammonium and urea are preferred to nitrate as a nitrogen source by phytoplankton. The nitrate concentrations in the sediment porewater were low, but a large pool of nitrate was identified in the top 0–2 cm layer, which was released by KCl extraction or by freezing of the sediment. This extractable pool of nitrate did not equilibrate with the soluble nitrate pool in the sediment, but seemed to be released from components of the benthic infauna, which were also largely confined to the top 0–2 cm. The physiological role of this nitrate is unknown

Sediment Microbiology

234 hal,;ill,;24 c

Influence of algal biofilms on nutrient fluxes across the sediment-water interface Final report

EPG 1/9/76 (March 1996- May 1999)Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:m00/22014 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

The selection of microbial communities by constant or fluctuating temperatures

The diversity of bacterial communities isolated from Antarctic lake sediment in chemostats under constant low temperature (8°C) or diurnally fluctuating temperature (1°C to 16°C) was examined. The median optimum temperature for growth of the freshwater bacteria isolated from the fluctuation chemostat was significantly lower (P < 1%) than that for those from the constant temperature chemostat. The diversity of the enriched bacterial community isolated in the chemostat culture subjected to short‐term temperature fluctuations was greater than that enriched under constant temperature. At least 4 different groups of bacteria, that occupied separate ‘temperature niches’, were isolated from the fluctuating chemostat compared to only one group isolated from the stable chemostat. Furthermore, a pseudomonad from the fluctuating chemostat was shown to out‐compete another pseudomonad from the stable chemostat when both were subjected to the fluctuating temperature regime. However, the pseudomonad of constant (8°C) temperature origin out‐competed that isolated under fluctuating conditions when subjected to a stable temperature regime