Abstract
Denitrification by the sessile microbial community of the River Tamagawa was studied in laboratory experiments. Inorganic nitrogen loss was observed when river water was incubated with sessile microbial community of the river in a continuously circulating system. It was confirmed by the 15N tracer technique that both sessile microbial communities of unpolluted and polluted areas had denitrifying activity, even though they were incubated in oxygenated river water. The denitrification rate of the sessile microbial community taken from a polluted area, measured by the 15N tracer technique, was 8–16 mg N/m2/day in October and December, 1977, and it was enhanced 10-fold by raising the water temperature from 14 to 30° C. Denitrification in the river was also suggested by determining the N2: Ar ratio of gases evolved from the river bed.
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Nakajima, T. Denitrification by the sessile microbial community of a polluted river. Hydrobiologia 66, 57–64 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019140
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019140