Abstract
Microcosms containing different densities of Corophium volutator, ranging from 0 to 6000 ind m-2, were incubated in a flow-through system. Benthic fluxes of CO2, O2, NO3 - and NH4 + were measured regularly. Thirteen days after setup the microcosms were sacrificed and sediment characteristics, pore water NO3 -, NH4 + and exchangeable NH4 + concentrations, and potential nitrification activity were measured. The presence of C. volutator increased overall mineralization processes due to burrow construction and irrigation. The amphipods increased the ratio ΣCO2/O2 fluxes from 0.73 to 0.86 in microcosms inhabited by 0 and 6000 ind m-2, respectively. Burrow ventilation removed NH4 + from the sediment, which was nitrified in the oxic layer and transported NO3 - to the burrow sediment, where denitrification potential was enhanced. Nitrification and total denitrification rates (denitrification of NO3 - coming from the overlying water and of NO3 - generated within the sediment) were calculated and discussed. Bioturbation by C. volutator increased both nitrification and denitrification, but denitrification was stimulated more than nitrification. Denitrification of NO3 - coming from the overlying water was stimulated 1.2- and 1.7-fold in microcosms containing 3000 and 6000 ind m-2 relative to control microcosms. The presence of C. volutator (6000 ind m-2) stimulated nitrogen removal from the system, as dinitrogen, 1.5-fold relative to non-bioturbated microcosms. C. volutator individuals used in our study were collected from Norsminde Fjord, Denmark, in 1990.
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Communicated by T. M. Fenchel, Helsingør
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Pelegrí, S.P., Blackburn, T.H. Bioturbation effects of the amphipod Corophium volutator on microbial nitrogen transformations in marine sediments. Marine Biology 121, 253–258 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346733
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346733