Abstract
Benthic bacterial production and biomass were measured at 16 stations in the North Sea covering a wide range of sediment types from the Southern Bight and the English coast to the Skagerrak. Stations were sampled in August 1991 and February 1992. The best predictor for summer/winter and spatial variations in benthic bacterial production in North Sea sediments was temperature. In winter the ranges in temperature were too small to account for the spatial variations in benthic bacterial production. The direct effect of temperature alone on bacterial production could not explain the variations. The apparent Q10-values derived from the relations between bacterial growth and temperature exceeded the range in Q10-values generally accepted for bacterial growth (between 2 and 3). Temperature was assumed to covary closely with substrate availability for bacteria. Due to its significant seasonality phytopigment content of the sediment (chlorophyll a and pheopigment) was found to be a better indicator of substrate availability than sediment organic matter, which did not demonstrate seasonality. Temperature and phytopigment accounted for up to 88% of the seasonal and spatial variations in bacterial production. The significant relations between bacterial production and biomass in summer coinciding with significant relations between bacterial biomass and phytopigments suggest that variations in phytopigments in the sediment may be indicators of the variability of labile components regulating bacterial production in sediments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alongi DM (1988) Bacterial productivity and microbial biomass in tropical mangrove sediments. Microb Ecol 15:59–79
Alongi DA (1989) The fate of bacterial biomass and production in marine benthic food chains. In: Hattori T, Ishida Y, Maruyama Y, Morita RY, Uchida A (eds), Recent advances in microbial ecology. Scientific Soc Press, Tokyo Japan, pp 355–359
Alongi DM (1992) Vertical profiles of bacterial abundance, productivity and growth rates in coastal sediments of the central Great Barrier Reef lagoon. Mar Biol 112: 657–663
Atlas RM, Bartha R (1986) Microbial ecology. Fundamentals and applications. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Comp, Inc., California
Bak RPM, Nieuwland G (1989) Seasonal fluctuations in benthic protozoan populations at different depths in marine sediments. Neth J Sea Res 24: 37–44
Bianchi TS, Findlay S (1991) Decomposition of Hudson Estuary macrophytes: photosynthetic pigment transformations and decay constants. Estuaries 14:65–73
Billen G, Joiris C, Meyer-Reil L-A, Lindeboom H (1990) Role of bacteria in the North Sea ecosystem. Neth J Sea Res 26:265–293
Boström B, Petterson A-K, Ahlgren J (1989) Seasonal dynamics of a cyanobacteria-dominated microbial community in surface sediments of a shallow, eutrophic lake. Aquat Sciences. 51:153–178
Bratbak G, Dundas I (1984) Bacterial dry matter content and biomass estimations. Appl envirl Microbiol 48: 755–757
Cadée GC (1986) Organic carbon in the water column and its sedimentation. Fladen Ground (North Sea), May 1983. Neth J Sea Res 20:347–358
Cammen LM (1982) Effect of particle size on organic content and microbial abundance within four marine sediments. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 9:273–280
Cole JJ, Findlay S, Pace ML (1988) Bacterial production in fresh and saltwater ecosystems:a cross-system overview. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 43:1–10
Daemen EAMJ (1986) Comparison of methods for the determination of chlorophyll in estuarine sediments. Neth J Sea Res 20:21–28
Deflaun MF, Mayer LM (1983) Relationships between bacteria and grain surfaces in intertidal sediments. Limnol Oceangr 28:873–881
Fallon RD, Boylen CW (1990) Bacterial production in freshwater sediments: cell specific versus system measures. Microb Ecol 19:53–62
Findlay RH, Trexler MB, White DC (1990) Response of a benthic microbial community to biotic disturbance. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 62:135–148
Forsskåhl M, Laakkonen A, Leppänen JM, Niemi Å, Sundberg A, Tamenlander O (1982) Seasonal cycle of production and sedimentation of organic matter at the entrance of the gulf of Finland. Neth J Sea Res 16: 209–299
Furlong ET, Carpenter R (1988) Pigment preservation and remineralization in oxic coastal marine sediments. Geochim cosmochim Acta 52:87–99
Hansen JA, Klumpp DW, Alongi DM, Dayton PK, Riddle MJ (1992) Detrital pathways in a coral reef lagoon II. Detritus deposition, benthic microbial biomass and production. Mar Biol 113:363–372
Herndl GJ, Faganeli J, Fanuko N, Peduzzi P, Turk V (1987) Role of bacteria in the carbon and nitrogen flow between water-column and sediment in a shallow marine bay (Bay of Piran, Northern Adriatic Sea) Pubbl Staz zool Napoli (I Mar Ecol) 8:221–236
Herndl GJ, Peduzzi P, Fanuko N (1989) Benthic community metabolism and microbial dynamics in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic Sea). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 53:169–178
Hobbie JE, Cole JJ (1984) Response of a detrital foodweb to eutrophication. Bull mar Sci 35:357–363
Hondeveld BJM, Bak RPM, van Duyl FC (1994) Temporal and spatial variations in heterotrophic nanoflagellate abundance in North Sea sediments. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 109:235–243
Jennes MI, Duineveld GCA (1985) Effects of tidal currents on chlorophyll a content of sandy sediments in the southern North Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 21:283–287
Kemp PF (1990) The fate of benthic bacterial production. Aquat Sci 2:109–124
Kirchman DL, Hoch MP (1988) Bacterial production in the Delaware Bay estuary estimated from thymidine and leucine incorporation rates. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 45:169–178
Kirchman DL, Newell SY, Hodson RE (1986) Incorporation versus biosynthesis of leucine: implications for measuring rates of protein synthesis and biomass production by bacteria in marine systems. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 32:47–59
Lorenzen CJ (1967) Determination of chlorophyll a and phaeopigments. Spectrophotometric equations. Limnol Oceanogr 12:343–346
Lorenzen CJ, Jeffrey SW (1980) Determination of chlorophyll in seawater. Tech Pap mar Sci (UNESCO) 35
Meyer-Reil L-A (1983) Benthic response to sedimentation events during autumn to spring at a shallow water station in the western Kiel Bight. II. Analysis of benthic bacterial production. Mar Biol 77:247–256
Meyer-Reil L-A (1984) Bacterial biomass and heterotrophic activity in sediments and overlying waters. In: Hobbie JE, Williams PJ (eds) Heterotrophic activity in the sea. Plenum Press, New York, pp 523–546
Meyer-Reil L-A(1987) Seasonal and spatial distribution of extracellular enzymatic activities and microbial incorporation of dissolved organic substrates in marine sediments. Appl envirl Microbiol 53:1748–1755
Meyer-Reil L-A, Charfreitag O (1991) Observations on the microbial incorporation of thymidine and leucine in marine sediments. Kieler Meeresforsch 8:117–120
Michel PH, Bloem J (1993) Conversion factors for estimation of cell production rates of soil bacteria from [3H] thymidine and [3H] leucine incorporation.Soil Biol Biochem 25:943–950
Moriarty DJW (1986) Measurement of bacterial growth rates in aquatic systems from rates of nucleic acid synthesis. In: Marshall KC (ed) Advances in microbial ecology. Plenum Publ Corp. New York, pp 245–292
Moriarty DJW (1989) Relationships of bacterial biomass and production to primary production in marine sediments. In: Hattori T, Ishida Y, Maruyama Y, Morita RY, Uchida A (eds) Recent advances in microbial ecology. Scientific Societies Press, Tokyo Japan, pp 349–354
Moriarty DJW (1990) Techniques for estimating bacterial growth rates and production of biomass in aquatic environments. In: Grigorova R, Norris JK (eds) Methods in microbiology, Vol 22. Academic Press, London, pp 211–234
Moriarty DJW, Pollard PC (1981) DNA synthesis as a measure of bacterial productivity in seagrass sediments. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 5:151–156
Moriarty DJW, Pollard PC (1982) Diel variation of bacterial productivity in seagrass (Zostera capricorni) beds measured by rate of thymidine incorporation into DNA. Mar Biol 72:165–173
Moriarty DJW, Pollard PC (1990) Effects of radioactive labelling of macromolecules, disturbance of bacteria and adsorption of thymidine to sediment on the determination of bacterial growth rates in sediment with tritiated thymidine. J microbiol Meth 11:127–139
Moriarty DJW, Roberts DG, Pollard PC (1990) Primary and bacterial productivity in tropical seagrass communities in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 61:145–157
Moriarty DJW, Skyring GW, O'Brien GW, Heggie DT (1991) Heterotrophic bacterial activity and growth rates in sediments of the continental margin of eastern Australia. Deep-Sea Res 38:693–712
Novitsky JA (1987) Microbial growth rates and biomass production in a marine sediment: evidence for a very active but mostly non-growing community. Appl envirl Microbiol 53:2368–2372
Peinert R, Saure A, Stegmann P, Steinen C, Haardt H, Smetacek V (1982) Dynamics of primary production and sedimentation in a coastal ecosystem.Neth J Sea Res 16:276–289
Reineck HE (1963) Der Kastengreifer Natur Mus 93:102–108
Riemann B, Bell RT, Jørgensen NOG (1990) Incorporation of thymidine, adenine and leucine into natural bacterial assemblages. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 65:87–94
Rublee PA (1982) Seasonal distribution of bacteria in salt marsh sediments in North Carolina.Estuar cstl Shelf Sci 15:67–74
Sander BC, Kalff J (1993) Factors controlling bacterial production in marine and freshwater sediments. Microb Ecol 26:79–99
Simon M, Azam F (1989) Protein content and protein synthesis rates of planktonic marine bacteria. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 51:201–213
Simon M, Cho BC, Azam F (1992) Significance of bacterial biomass in lakes and the ocean: comparison to phytoplankton biomass and biogeochemical implications. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 86:103–110
Smetacek V (1980) Annual cycle of sedimentation in relation to plankton ecology in western Kiel bight. Ophelia (Suppl) 1:65–76
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry: to the principles and practice of statistics in biological research. Freeman WH and Company, New York
Suess E (1980) Particulate organic carbon flux in the oceans: surface productivity and oxygen utilization. Nature, Lond 288:260–263
Upton AC, Nedwell DB, Parkes RJ, Harvey SM (1993) Seasonal benthic microbial activity in the southern North Sea: oxygen uptake and sulphate reduction. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 101:273–281
Van Duyl FC, Bak RPM, Kop AJ, Nieuwland G (1990) Bacteria, auto-and heterotrophic nanoflagellates, and their relations in mixed, frontal and stratified waters of the North Sea. Neth J Sea Res 26:97–109
Van Duyl FC, Bak RPM, Kop AJ, Nieuwland G, Berghuis EM, Kok A (1992a) Mesocosm experiments: mimicking seasonal developments of microbial variables in North Sea sediments. Hydrobiologia 235/236:267–281
Van Duyl FC, Kop AJ (1990) Seasonal patterns of bacterial production and biomass in intertidal sediments of the western Dutch Wadden Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 59: 249–261
Van Duyl FC, Kop AJ, Kok A, Sandee AJJ (1992b) The impact of organic matter and macrozoobenthos on bacterial and oxygen variables in marine sediment boxcosms. Neth J Sea Res 29: 343–355
Van Duyl FC, van Raaphorst W, Kop AJ (1993) Benthic bacterial production and nutrient sediment-water exchange in sandy North Sea sediments.Mar Ecol Prog Ser 100:85–95
Van Looij A, Reimann B (1993) Measurement of bacterial production in coastal marine environments using leucine: application of a kinetic approach to correct for isotope dilution. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 102:97–104
Van Es FB, Meyer-Reil L-A (1982) Biomass and metabolic activity of heterotrophic marine bacteria. Adv microl Ecol 6:111–170
Verardo DJ, Froelich PN, Macintyre A (1990) Determination of organic carbon and nitrogen in sediments using the Carlo Erba Na-1500 analyser. Deep-Sea Res 37:157–165
White PA, Kalff J, Rasmussen JB, Gasol JM (1991) The effect of temperature and algal biomass on bacterial production and specific growth rates in freshwater and marine habitats. Microb Ecol 21:99–118
Wilkinson L, Hill M, Miceli S, Howe P, Vang E (1992) SYSTAT for the Macintosh, version 5.2.SYSTAT Inc. Evanston, Illinois
Yamamoto N, Lopez G (1985) Bacterial abundance in relation to surface area and organic content of marine sediments. J exp mar Biol Ecol 90:209–220
Zeitschel B (1965) Zur Sedimentation von Seston, eine produktions-biologische Untersuchung von Sinkstoffen und Sedimenten der westlichen und mittleren Ostsee. Kieler Meerforsch 21:55–80
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated byO. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
van Duyl, F.C., Kop, A.J. Bacterial production in North Sea sediments: clues to seasonal and spatial variations. Marine Biology 120, 323–337 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349694
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349694