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Sediment Denitrification and Nutrient Fluxes in the San José Lagoon, a Tropical Lagoon in the Highly Urbanized San Juan Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico

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Abstract

Direct measurements of net N2 production, oxygen, and inorganic nutrient fluxes at the sediment–water interface were conducted in the San José Lagoon (SJL), a tropical coastal lagoon located at the San Juan Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico, that is heavily impacted by anthropogenic activities. Sediment of the SJL had high organic matter (average = 16.7 %; SD = 9.0), pore water ammonium (541 μM ± 422), and pore water soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) (57 μM ± 48) concentrations. High fluxes of oxygen (−1999 μmol m−2 h−1 ± 2180) and N2–N (192 μmol m−2 h−1 ± 315) fluxes were observed. Similarly, high fluxes of ammonium (770 μmol m−2 h−1 ± 701) and SRP fluxes (167 μmol m−2 h−1 ± 138) were measured, with moderate nitrate fluxes (−40 μmol m−2 h−1 ± 53) mostly directed into the sediment. The dissolved inorganic nitrogen and soluble reactive phosphorus ratio (DIN/SRP) was low relative to the Redfield ratio and suggested that the sediment would support SJL as a nitrogen-limited system. An experiment with higher nitrate concentration resulted in a significant response (p < 0.05) of denitrifying microbes and ammonium fluxes to a 100-μM KNO3 addition. Net N2 production was an important sink in the nitrogen balance of the SJL, though most remineralized N was released as ammonium. Efforts to mitigate eutrophication in the SJL require consideration of the substantial role that sediments play in biogeochemical cycles.

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Acknowledgments

This research was a collaborative work financially supported by Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, under the National Science Foundation Grant HRD-0734826, Luquillo Long Term Ecological Research Program, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus under the National Science Foundation Grant DEB-0620910, and Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for environmental Science under National Science Foundation Grant OCE-0961920. Special thanks to graduate student Angel Santiago (University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus) for his assistance in the field work, Dr. Victor Snyder and Mr. Miguel A. Vázquez Cartagena (Soil Physics Laboratory, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus) for assistance in grain size analysis, and Mike Owens (Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland) for his help in gases analysis, and Drs. William H. McDowell and Jody D. Potter (University of New Hampshire at Durham) for pore water nutrient analysis. We also appreciate the cooperation of fishermen Sebastián Cruz Olmos and Ivan Soto Torres who so generously provided their facilities at the “Los Laguneros” Fishermen’s Association for fieldtrips and installation of all sampling equipment to carry out sediment core incubations. The outline of this research was sketched by HPV and JCC during the Managing Denitrification in Human-Dominated Landscapes Workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation through the Denitrification Research Coordination Network, held at the Coastal Institute, Narragansett Bay Campus, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI, USA. We appreciate the helpful comments and suggestions from W. S. Gardner, B. D. Eyre, and two anonymous reviewers.

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  1. Hamlet Pérez-Villalona

    Present address: Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge, MD, 21613-0775, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, P. O. Box70377, San Juan, Puerto Rico, PR, 00936-8377

    Hamlet Pérez-Villalona

  2. Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge, MD, 21613-0775, USA

    Jeffrey C. Cornwell

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences and Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation, University of Puerto Rico, P. O. Box 70377, San Juan, Puerto Rico, PR, 00931-3360

    Jorge R. Ortiz-Zayas

  4. Department of Biology, and Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation, University of Puerto Rico, P. O. Box 23360, San Juan, Puerto Rico, PR, 00931-3360

    Elvira Cuevas

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  1. Hamlet Pérez-Villalona
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Correspondence to Hamlet Pérez-Villalona.

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Pérez-Villalona, H., Cornwell, J.C., Ortiz-Zayas, J.R. et al. Sediment Denitrification and Nutrient Fluxes in the San José Lagoon, a Tropical Lagoon in the Highly Urbanized San Juan Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico. Estuaries and Coasts 38, 2259–2278 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-015-9953-3

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