Abstract
Nitrate reduction and denitrification were measured in swamp forest streams draining lowland rain forest on Costa Rica's Atlantic slope foothills using the C2H2-block assay and sediment-water nutrient fluxes. Denitrification assays using the C2H2-block technique indicated that the full suite of denitrifying enzymes were present in the sediment but that only a small fraction of the functional activity could be expressed without adding NO3 −. Under optimal conditions, denitrification enzyme activity averaged 15 nmoles cm−3 sediment h−1. Areal NO3 − reduction rates measured from NO3 − loss in the overlying water of sediment-water flux chambers ranged from 65 to 470 umoles m−2 h−1. Oxygen loss rates accompanying NO3 − depletion averaged 750 umoles m−2 h−1. Corrected for denitrification of NO3 − oxidized from NH4 + in the sediment, gross NO3 − reduction rates increase by 130 umoles m−2 h−1, indicating nitrification may be the predominant source of NO3 − for NO3 − reduction in swamp forest stream sediments. Under field conditions approximately 80% of the increase in inorganic N mass along a 1250-m reach of the Salto River was in the form of NO3 − with the balance NH4 + . Scrutiny of potential inorganic N sources suggested that mineralized N released from the streambed was a major source of the inorganic N increase. Despite significant NO3 − reduction potential, swamp forest stream sediments appear to be a source of inorganic N to downstream communities.
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Duff, J.H., Pringle, C.M. & Triska, F.J. Nitrate reduction in sediments of lowland tropical streams draining swamp forest in Costa Rica: An ecosystem perspective. Biogeochemistry 33, 179–196 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181071
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181071