Metal-macrofauna interactions determine microbial community structure and function in copper contaminated sediments

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Resource Quantity Affects Benthic Microbial Community Structure and Growth Efficiency in a Temperate Intertidal Mudflat

Estuaries cover <1% of marine habitats, but the carbon dioxide (CO2) effluxes from these net heterotrophic systems contribute significantly to the global carbon cycle. Anthropogenic eutrophication of estuarine waterways increases the supply of labile substrates to the underlying sediments. How such changes affect the form and functioning of the resident microbial communities remains unclear. We employed a carbon-13 pulse-chase experiment to investigate how a temperate estuarine benthic microbial community at 6.5°C responded to additions of marine diatom-derived organic carbon equivalent to 4.16, 41.60 and 416.00 mmol C m−2. The quantities of carbon mineralized and incorporated into bacterial biomass both increased significantly, albeit differentially, with resource supply. This resulted in bacterial growth efficiency increasing from 0.40±0.02 to 0.55±0.04 as substrates became more available. The proportions of diatom-derived carbon incorporated into individual microbial membrane fatty acids also varied with resource supply. Future increases in labile organic substrate supply have the potential to increase both the proportion of organic carbon being retained within the benthic compartment of estuaries and also the absolute quantity of CO2 outgassing from these environments

High rates of denitrification and nitrate removal in cold seep sediments

We measured denitrification and nitrate removal rates in cold seep sediments from the Gulf of Mexico. Heterotrophic potential denitrification rates were assayed in time-series incubations. Surficial sediments inhabited by Beggiatoa exhibited higher heterotrophic potential denitrification rates (32 μ N reduced day−1) than did deeper sediments (11 μ N reduced day−1). Nitrate removal rates were high in both sediment horizons. These nitrate removal rates translate into rapid turnover times (<1 day) for the nitrate pool, resulting in a faster turnover for the nitrate pool than for the sulfate pool. Together, these data underscore the rigorous nature of internal nitrogen cycling at cold seeps and the requirement for novel mechanisms to provide nitrate to the sediment microbial community