Abstract
Kushiro Mire is the largest mire in Japan and in 1980 was the first wetland in Japan registered under the Ramsar Convention. Recent reports indicate an increase in nutrient loading into Kushiro Mire from changes in land use. We measured vertical profiles of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN; NO3 –, NO2 –, NH4 +), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and various types of microbial activity in soil samples collected to approximately 1.5 m deep at two sites in Kushiro Mire. We found an accumulation of NO3 – and DOC in the deeper soil. Denitrifying activity was highest in the shallower soils and decreased drastically with depth, whereas higher levels of fluoresceindiacetate hydrolysis, β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, and xylosidase enzyme activity were found in the deeper layers. We also detected humic-like substances as components of the DOC. These results suggest that the DOC in the wetland soil cannot be used as a substrate for denitrification, causing denitrification to be suppressed in the deeper soil. In addition, denitrifying activity would be very low in the deeper layers due to low soil temperature. As a result, nitrogen input to the mire has resulted in a large accumulation of NO3 – in the deeper soil. This will eventually change the mire ecosystem through effects such as increased eutrophication and acidification.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahn YS, Nakamura F, Mizugaki S (2008) Hydrology, suspended sediment dynamics and nutrient loading in Lake Takkobu, a degrading lake ecosystem in Kushiro Mire, northern Japan. Environ Monit Assess 145:267–281
Aon MA, Colaneri AC (2001) II. Temporal and spatial evolution of enzymatic activities and physico-chemical properties in an agricultural soil. Appl Soil Ecol 18:255–270
Baum C, Leinweber P, Schlichting A (2003) Effects of chemical conditions in re-wetted peats on temporal variation in microbial biomass and acid phosphatase activity within the growing season. Appl Soil Ecol 22:167–174
Bijay-Singh, Ryden JC, Whitehead DC (1988) Some relationships between denitrification potential and fractions of organic carbon in air-dried and field-moist soils. Soil Biol Biochem 20:737–741
Bridgham SD, Richardson CJ (2003) Endogenous versus exogenous nutrient control over decomposition and mineralization in North Carolina peat lands. Biogeochemistry 65:151–178
Cooper JR, Gilliam JW, Daniels RB, Robarge WP (1987) Riparian areas as filters for agricultural sediment. Soil Sci Soc Am J 51:416–420
D’Angelo EM, Reddy KR (1994) Diagenesis of organic matter in a wetland receiving hypereutrophic lake water: II. Role of inorganic electron acceptors in nutrient release. J Environ Qual 23:937–943
Dodla SK, Wang JJ, DeLaune RD, Cook RL (2008) Denitrification potential and its relation to organic carbon quality in three coastal wetland soils. Sci Tot Environ 407:471–480
Freeman C, Liska G, Ostle NJ, Jones SE, Lock MA (1995) The use of fluorogenic substrates for measuring enzyme activity in peatlands. Plant Soil 175:147–152
Gage MA, Gorham E (1985) Alkaline phosphatase activity and cellular phosphorus as an index of the phosphorus status of phytoplankton in Minnesota lakes. Freshwater Biol 15:227–233
Gale PM, Devai I, Reddy KR, Graetz DA (1993) Denitrification potential of soils from constructed and natural wetlands. Ecol Eng 2:119–130
Harris LD (1988) The nature of cumulative impacts on biotic diversity of wetland vertebrates. Environ Manag 12:675–693
Hill AR, Cardaci M (2004) Denitrification and organic carbon availability in riparian wetland soils and sub-surface sediments. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:320–325
Martens R (1995) Current methods for measuring microbial biomass C in soil: potentials and limitations. Biol Fertil Soils 19:87–99
McLatchey GP, Reddy KR (1998) Regulation of organicmatter decomposition and nutrient release in a wetland soil. J Environ Qual 27:1268–1274
Nakamura F, Jitsu M, Kameyama S, Mizugaki S (2002) Changes in riparian forest in the Kushiro Mire, Japan, associated with stream channelization. River Res Appl 18:65–79
Nakamura F, Kameyama S, Mizugaki S (2004) Rapid shrinkage of Kushiro Mire, the largest mire in Japan, due to increased sedimentation associated with land-use development in the catchment. Catena 55:213–229
Newman S, Reddy KR (1993) Alkaline phosphatase activity in the sediment–water column of a hypereutrophic lake. J Environ Qual 22:832–838
Payne WJ (1973) Reduction of nitrogenous oxides by microorganisms. Bacteriol Rev 37:409–452
Prenger JP, Reddy KR (2004) Microbial enzyme activities in a freshwater marsh after cessation of nutrient loading. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:1796–1804
Sardans J, Peñuelas J, Estiarte M (2008) Changes in soil enzymes related to C and N cycle and in soil C and N content under prolonged warming and drought in a Mediterranean shrubland. Appl Soil Ecol 39:223–235
Schnurer J, Rosswall T (1982) Fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis as a measure of total microbial activity in soil and litter. App Environ Microbiol 43:1256–1261
Seitzinger SP (1988) Denitrification in freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems: ecological and geochemical significance. Limnol Oceanogr 33:702–724
Senga Y, Mochida K, Fukumori R, Okamoto N, Seike Y (2006) N2O accumulation in estuarine and coastal sediments: the influence of H2S on dissimilatory nitrate reduction. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 67:231–238
Senga Y, Okumura M, Seike Y (2010) Seasonal and spatial variation in the denitrifying activity in estuarine and lagoonal sediments. J Oceanogr 66:155–160
Takada E, Nakata T, Miyagi T, Haraguchi T, Nishitani Y (2002) Handy Geoslicer–New soil sampler for Quaternary geologist (in Japanese). Chishitu News 579:12–18
Tsuchihara T, II H, Ishida S, Imaizumi M (2006) Recharge area of distributed Springs in Kushiro Wetland estimated from hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope ratios and Tritium concentration(in Japanese with English abstract). Trans JSIDRE 245:73–83
Wetzel RG (1991) Extracellular enzymatic interactions :storage, redistribution, and interspecific competition. In: Chrost RJ (ed) Microbial enzymes in aquatic environments. Springer, New York, pp 6–28
White JR, Reddy KR (2000) The effects of phosphorus loading on organic nitrogen mineralization of soils and detritus along a nutrient gradient in the northern Everglades, Florida. Soil Sci Soc Am J 64:1525–1534
Wright AL, Reddy KR (2001) Heterotrophic microbial activity in Northern Everglades wetland soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 65:1856–1864
Yoshinari T, Knowles R (1976) Acetylene inhibition of nitrous oxide reduction by denitrifying bacteria. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 69:705–710
Yoshinari T, Hynes R, Knowles R (1977) Acetylene inhibition of nitrous oxide reduction and measurement of denitrification and nitrogen fixation in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 9:177–183
Acknowledgments
This study was partly supported by a Pollution Control Research Fund of the Ministry of the Environment and a Grant-in-Aid for Exploratory Research (No. 20710011) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Senga, Y., Hiroki, M., Nakamura, Y. et al. Vertical profiles of DIN, DOC, and microbial activities in the wetland soil of Kushiro Mire, northeastern Japan. Limnology 12, 17–23 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-010-0316-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-010-0316-2