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Interlinked seasonal variation in biogenic nutrient fluxes and pore-water nutrient concentrations in intertidal sediments

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Abstract

The seasonal variation in biogenic fluxes of NH4 +, PO4 3− and SiO2 calculated from the nutrient excretion rates of dominant bivalves (Ruditapes philippinarum and Arcuatula [=Musculista] senhousia), and pore-water nutrient (NH4 +, PO4 3−, SiO2 and NO3 − + NO2 −), sedimentary acid-volatile sulfide (AVS) and benthic chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations was assessed on an intertidal sandflat in the Seto Inland Sea (Japan) from summer 1994 to autumn 1995. In spite of the large variability between sampling dates and stations, significant correlations between biogenic nutrient fluxes and pore-water nutrient concentrations were found, suggesting a seasonal linkage between bivalve-mediated biological processes and chemical features of sediments. This linkage was stronger in surface (0–0.5 cm) than subsurface (0.5–2 cm) sediments, consistent with the autoecological characteristics of R. philippinarum and A. senhousia inhabiting the uppermost sediment layer. Significant temporal variation in pore-water NO3 − + NO2 −, sedimentary AVS and benthic Chl-a concentrations was also found, which was related to both occasional extreme events (e.g., dystrophy) and alternating periods of production and decomposition. This study may serve twofold in (1) contributing to unravel the ecological structure and functioning of natural tidal flats, and the scale of seasonal variability in biotic and sedimentary parameters and (2) providing useful information for assessing the effectiveness of the physico-chemical and biological structure of artificial tidal flats which are growing in number and extension worldwide.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partly supported by a research fund (No. 22380102) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (Grant-in-Aid of Scientific Research) and by the Flagship Project RITMARE—The Italian Research for the Sea—coordinated by the Italian National Research Council and funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. We gratefully acknowledge the constructive criticisms of two anonymous reviewers which helped us improve manuscript’s clarity.

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  1. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Istituto per l’Ambiente Marino Costiero (CNR-IAMC), Località Sa Mardini, Torregrande, 09170, Oristano, Italy

    P. Magni & S. Como

  2. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Istituto di Scienze Marine (CNR-ISMAR), Arsenale-Tesa 104, Castello 2737/F, 30122, Venice, Italy

    P. Magni

  3. Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, N10W5, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan

    S. Montani

  4. Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Science, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Tsukide 3-1-100, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan

    H. Tsutsumi

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Communicated by M. Huettel.

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Magni, P., Como, S., Montani, S. et al. Interlinked seasonal variation in biogenic nutrient fluxes and pore-water nutrient concentrations in intertidal sediments. Mar Biol 161, 2767–2779 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-014-2541-4

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