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Nitrogen cycling across the sediment-water interface in an eutrophic, artificially oxygenated lake

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Abstract

Processes controlling the nitrogen (N) exchange between water and sediment in eutrophic Lake Sempach were studied using three different independent methods: benthic flux chambers, interstitial water data and hypolimnetic mass balances. The sediments released NH +4 (1.1–16.1 mmoles m−2 d−1), NO -2 (0.1–0.4 mmoles m−2 d−1) and dissolved organic N (<0.25 mmoles m−2 d−1). A net NO -3 consumption (2.4–11.1 mmoles m−2 d−1) related to the NO -3 concentrations in the overlying water was observed in all benthic chamber experiments. The flux of the reactive species NO -3 and NH +4 was found to depend on hydrodynamic conditions in the water overlying the sediment. For this reason, benthic chambers overestimated the fluxes of inorganic N compared to the other methods. Thus, in short-term flux chamber experiments the sediment may either become a sink or a source for inorganic N depending on the O2 concentration in the water overlying the sediment and the stirring rate. As demonstrated with a15NO -3 experiment, nitrate-ammonification accounted for less than 12% of the total NO -3 consumption. After six years of artificial oxygenation in Lake Sempach, a decrease in hypolimnetic total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) was observed in the last two years. The occurrence of dense mats of H2S-oxidizingBeggiatoa sp. indicated micro-aerobic conditions at the sediment surface. Under these conditions, a shorter distance between the ecological niches of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria, and therefore a faster NO -3 -transport, can possibly explain the lowering of TIN by enhanced net denitrification.

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  1. P. Höhener

    Present address: Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Soil Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ), Grabenstr 3, CH-8952, Schlieren, Switzerland

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  1. Limnological Research Center, Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), CH-6047, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland

    P. Höhener & R. Gächter

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Höhener, P., Gächter, R. Nitrogen cycling across the sediment-water interface in an eutrophic, artificially oxygenated lake. Aquatic Science 56, 115–132 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00877203

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