Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of sediment grain size and bioturbation on decomposition of organic matter from aquaculture

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sediment grain size plays a major role in sediment biogeochemistry and sediments with different grain size are expected to react differently to organic enrichment. Through a mesocosm approach we tested the behavior of sediments with two types of predominant grain size (sandy and muddy sediments) under two levels of organic enrichment, related to mussel and fish farming. The polychaete Hediste diversicolor was used to simulate macrofauna bioturbation and bioirrigation. H. diversicolor stimulated organic matter (OM) mineralization and nutrient recycling. Muddy sediments had more OM from nature, resulting in higher sulfate reduction rates than sandy sediments. Under low levels of organic enrichment grain size did not have any effect on benthic fluxes (sediment oxygen uptake, total CO2, ammonium, nitrate, nitrite and phosphate). However, at high levels of organic enrichment, sandy sediments accumulated less OM, less sulfide and less ammonium than muddy sediments, while sediment oxygen uptake and total CO2 showed similar levels between sandy and muddy sediments. Thus, grain size should be considered a key parameter for site selection of fish farming facilities when aiming for a sustainable aquaculture industry.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersen FO, Helder W (1987) Comparison of oxygen microgradients, oxygen flux rates and electron transport system activity in coastal marine sediments. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 37:259–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banta GT, Holmer M, Jensen MH, Kristensen E (1999) Effects of two polychaete worms, Nereis diversicolor and Arenicola marina, on aerobic and anaerobic decomposition in a sandy marine sediment. Aquat Microb Ecol 19:189–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks KM, Mahnken CVW (2003) Interactions of atlantic salmon in the pacific northwest environment. II. organic wastes. Fish Res 62:255–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlsson MS, Holmer M, Petersen JK (2009) Seasonal and spatial variations of benthic impacts of mussel longline farming in a eutrophic danish fjord, limfjorden. J Shellfish Res 28(4):791–801

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlsson MS, Glud RN, Petersen JK (2010) Degradation of mussel (Mytilus edulis) fecal pellets released from hanging long-lines upon sinking and after settling at the sediment. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 67:1376–1387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlsson MS, Engström P, Odd Lindahl O, Ljungqvist L, Petersen SL, Holmer M (2012) Effects of mussel farms on the benthic nitrogen cycle on the Swedish west coast. Aquacult Environ Interact 2:177–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen B, Vedel A, Kristensen E (2000) Carbon and nitrogen fluxes in sedimentinhabited by suspension-feeding (Nereis diversicolor) and non-suspension feeding (N. virens) polychaetes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 192:203–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen PB, Glud RN, Gillespie P (2003) Impacts of longline mussel farming on oxygen and nitrogen dynamics and biological communities of coastal sediments. Aquaculture 218:567–588

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cline JD (1969) Spectrophotometric determination of hydrogensulfide in natural waters. Limnol Oceanogr 14:454–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conley DJ, Carstensen J, Vaquer-Sunyer R, Duarte CM (2009) Ecosystem thresholds with hypoxia. Hydrobiologia 629:21–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cromey CJ, Thetmeyer H, Lampadariou N, Black KD, Kögeler J, Karakassis I (2012) MERAMOD: predicting the deposition and benthic impact of aquaculture in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Aquacult Environ Interact 2:157–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fossing H, Jørgensen BB (1989) Measurement of bacterial sulfate reduction in sediments: evaluation of the single-step chromium reduction method. Biogeochemistry 8:205–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glud RN (2008) Oxygen dynamics of marine sediments. Mar Biol Res 4:243–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray JS, Wu RS, Or YY (2002) Effects of hypoxia and organic enrichment on the coastal marine environment. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 238:249–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall POJ, Aller RC (1992) Rapid, small volume flow injectionanalysis for ∑CO2 and NH4 + in marine and freshwaters. Limnol Oceanogr 37:1113–1119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hargrave BT, Holmer M, Newcombe CP (2008) Towards a classification of organic enrichment in marine sediments based on biogeochemical indicators. Mar Pollut Bull 56:810–824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heilskov AC, Alperin M, Holmer M (2006) Benthic fauna bio-irrigation effects on nutrien regeneration in fish farm sediments. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 339:204–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmer M, Kristensen E (1992) Impact of marine fish cage farming on metabolism and sulfate reduction of underlying sediments. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 80:191–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmer M, Duarte CM, Heilskov A, Olesen B, Terrados J (2003) Biogeochemical conditions in sediments enriched by organic matter from net-pen fish farms in the Bolinao área, Philippines. Mar Pollut Bull 46:1470–1479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmer M, Duarte CM, Marba N (2005) Iron additions reduce sulphate reduction rates and improve seagrass growth on organic-enriched carbonate sediments. Ecosystems 8:721–730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Islam MS (2005) Nitrogen and phosphorus budget in coastal and marine cage aquaculture and impacts of effluent loading on ecosystem: review and analysis towards model development. Mar Pollut Bull 50:48–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalantzi I, Karakassis I (2006) Benthic impacts of fish farming: meta-analysis of community and geochemical data. Mar Pollut Bull 52:484–493

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanaya G (2014) Recolonization of macroozoobenthos on defaunated sediments in a hypertrophic brackish lagoon: effects of sulfide removal and sediment grain size. Mar Environ Res 95:81–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristensen E (1988) Benthic fauna and biogeochemical processes in marine sediments: microbial activities and fluxes. In: Blackburn TH, Sørensen J (eds) Nitrogen cycling in coastal marine environments. Wiley, Chichester, pp 275–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Kristensen E, Holmer M (2001) Decomposition of plant materials in marine sediment exposed to different electron acceptors (O2, NO3 − and SO4 2−), with emphasis on substrate origin, degradation kinetics, and the role of bioturbation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 65(3):419–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristensen E, Kostka JE (2005) Mangrove-microbe-soil relations. In: Kristensen E, Haese RR, Kostka JE (eds) Coastal and estuarine studies: interactions between macro- and microorganisms in marine sediments. American Geophysical Union, EEUU, Washington, DC, pp 125–157

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kristensen E, Hjorth Jensen M, Aller RC (1991) Direct measurement of dissolved inorganic nitrogen exchange and denitrification in individual polychaete (Nereis virens) burrows. J Mar Res 49:355–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristensen E, Penha-Lopes G, Delefosse M, Valdemarsen T, Quintana CO, Banta GT (2012) What is bioturbation? The need for a precise definition for fauna in aquatic sciences. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 446:285–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez-Garcia E, Pablo Sanchez-Jerez P, Aguado-Giménez F, Ávila P, Guerrero A, Sánchez-Lizaso JL, Fernandez-Gonzalez V, González N, Gairin JI, Carballeira C et al (2013) A meta-analysis approach to the effects of fish farming on soft bottom polychaeta assemblages in temperate regions. Mar Pollut Bull 69:165–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKindsey CM, Thetmeyer H, Landry T, Silvert W (2006) Review of recent carrying capacity models for bivalve culture and recommendations for research and management. Aquaculture 261:451–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nizzoli D, Welsh DT, Fano EA, Viaroli P (2006) Impact of clam and mussel farming on benthic metabolism and nitrogen cycling, with emphasis on nitrate reduction pathways. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 315:151–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papageorgiou N, Ioanna Kalantzi I, Karakassis I (2010) Effects of fish farming on the biological and geochemical properties of muddy and sandy sediments in the mediterranean sea. Mar Environ Res 69:326–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papaspyrou S, Thessalou-Legaki M, Kristensen E (2010) The influence of infaunal (Nereis diversicolor) abundance on degradation of organic matter in sandy sediments. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 393:148–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons T, Maita Y, Lalli C (1984) A manual of chemical and biological methods for seawater analysis. Pergamon Press Ltd, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson TH, Rosenberg R (1978) Macrobenthic succession in relation to organic enrichment and pollution of the marine environment. Oceanogr Mar Biol Ann Rev 16:229–331

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelegri SP, Nielsen LP, Blackburn TH (1994) Denitrification in estuarine sediment stimulated by the irrigation activity of the amphipod corophium volutator. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 105:285–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piedecausa MA, Aguado-Gimenez F, Cerezo-Valverde J, Llorente MDH, Garcia-Garcia B (2012) Influence of fish food and faecal pellets on short-term oxygen uptake, ammonium flux and acid volatile sulphide accumulation in sediments impacted by fish farming and non-impacted sediments. Aquacult Res 43:66–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preisler A, de Beer D, Lichtschlag A, Lavik G, Boetius A, Barker Jorgensen B (2007) Biological and chemical sulphide oxidation in a Beggiatoa inhabited marine sediment. ISME J 1:341–353

    Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2011) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3- 900051-07-0. www.R-project.org

  • Sandrini-Neto L and Camargo MG (2014) GAD: An R package for ANOVA designs from general principles, available on CRAN

  • Sanz-Lazaro C, Marin A (2008) Assessment of finfish aquaculture impact on the benthic communities in the Mediterranean sea. In: Russo R (ed) Aquaculture I. Dynamic biochemistry, process biotechnology and molecular biology 2 (special issue 1), Global Science Books, Ikenobe, pp 21–32. ISBN 978-4-903313-16-0

  • Sanz-Lázaro C, Marín A (2011) Diversity patterns of benthic macrofauna caused by marine fish farming. Diversity 3:176–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scaps P (2002) A review of the biology, ecology and potential use of the common ragworm Hediste diversicolor (O.F. müller) (annelida: Polychaeta). Hydrobiologia 470:203–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stadmark J, Conley DJ (2011) Mussel farming as a nutrient reduction measure in the Baltic sea: consideration of nutrient biogeochemical cycles. Mar Pollut Bull 62:1385–1388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stigebrandta A, Aureb J, Ervikb A, Hansenb PK (2004) Regulating the local environmental impact of intensive marine fish farming III. A model for estimation of the holding capacity in the Modelling-Ongrowing fish farm-Monitoring system. Aquaculture 234:239–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundby B, Gobeil C, Silverberg N, Mucci A (1993) The phosphorus cycle in coastal marine sediments bjøorn. Hydrobiologia 253:320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweetman A, Norling K, Gunderstad C, Haugland T, Dale T (2014) Benthic ecosystem functioning beneath fish farms in different hydrodynamic environments. Limmol Oceanogr 59(4):1139–1151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thamdrup B, Dalsgaard T (2000) The fate of ammonium in anoxic manganese oxide-rich marine sediment. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 64:4157–4164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (1997) Experiments in Ecology: their logical design and interpretation using analysis of variance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Valdemarsen T, Kristensen E, Holmer M (2009) Metabolic threshold and sulfide-buffering in diffusion controlled marine sediments impacted by continuous organic enrichment. Biogeochemistry 95:335–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wildish DJ, Pohle G (2005) Benthic macrofaunal changes resulting from finfish mariculture. In: Hargrave BT (ed) Environmental effects of marine finfish aquaculture. Handbook of environmental chemistry, vol Vol 5M. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 239–251

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wildish DJ, Akagi HM, Hamilton N, Hargrave BT (1999) A recommended method for monitoring sediments to detect organic enrichment from mariculture in the Bay of Fundy. Can Tech Rep Fish Aquat Sci 2286:iii+31p

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Ecolab of University of Southern Denmark, the Marine Biological Research Centre in Kerteminde (Denmark), Alevines de Guardamar SL and Centro de Invesigación Marina de Santa Pola (Spain) for the usage of their facilities. We are grateful to Irene Aragoneses, José Luis Villar and David Izquierdo for assistance during the experiments and Javier Aguilar for helping with nutrient analyses. We also appreciate the comments of two anonymous reviewer, which have improved the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Sciences and Applied Biology, University of Alicante, PO Box 99, 03080, Alicante, Spain

    Elena Martinez-Garcia, Pablo Sanchez-Jerez, José Luis Sánchez-Lizaso & Carlos Sanz-Lazaro

  2. Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230, Odense M, Denmark

    Marita Sundstein Carlsson & Marianne Holmer

Authors
  1. Elena Martinez-Garcia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marita Sundstein Carlsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pablo Sanchez-Jerez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. José Luis Sánchez-Lizaso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Carlos Sanz-Lazaro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Marianne Holmer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elena Martinez-Garcia.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Maren Voss.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 267 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Martinez-Garcia, E., Carlsson, M.S., Sanchez-Jerez, P. et al. Effect of sediment grain size and bioturbation on decomposition of organic matter from aquaculture. Biogeochemistry 125, 133–148 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0119-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0119-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation