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Seasonal increase of methane in sediment decreases δ13C of larval chironomids in a eutrophic shallow lake

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Abstract

Recent studies have shown that larval chironomids assimilate 13C-depleted carbon derived from biogenic methane by feeding on methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB). The dietary contribution of MOB is known to be maximized in the autumn overturn period or winter in eutrophic dimictic lakes due to the increase of MOB biomass following the supply of oxygenated water, but in polymictic lakes, such seasonal variability has not been revealed. We investigated the seasonal patterns of larval δ13C and methane concentrations in the sediment of a eutrophic polymictic lake, Izunuma, Japan. Larval δ13C decreased in late summer and autumn. Methane concentrations above a 6 cm depth peaked in late summer or autumn, while those in the 10–11- and 20–21-cm layers peaked in October. Negative correlations between methane concentrations in the 5–6/10–11-cm layers and larval δ13C were found. This suggests that an increase in the supply of methane stimulated the activity of MOB in a polymictic lake, where water above the lake bottom rarely became anoxic because of frequent overturn, thus increasing the dietary contribution of MOB to larval chironomids.

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Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank Dr. K. Itoh, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, for her assistance in the stable isotope analytical facilities. We thank Mr. K. Hara and Y. Sato, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, for their assistance in measuring and facilities for methane. We thank Ms. Y. Chiba, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, and K. Shindo, Miyagi Prefectural Izunuma-Uchinuma Environmental Foundation, for their assistant in the sampling. This study was supported partly by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (nos. 20570013, 20570014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8577, Japan

    Natsuru Yasuno & Ayumi Muraoka

  2. Center for Northeast Asian Studies, Tohoku University, 41 Kawauchi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8576, Japan

    Shuichi Shikano

  3. Miyagi Prefectural Izunuma-Uchinuma Environmental Foundation, 17-2 Shikimi, Wakayanagi, Kurihara, Miyagi, 989-5504, Japan

    Tetsuo Shimada

  4. Field Science Center, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, 232-3 Yomogida, Naruko-Onsen, Osaki, Miyagi, 989-6711, Japan

    Toyoaki Ito

  5. Environmental Education Center, Miyagi University of Education, 149 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-0845, Japan

    Eisuke Kikuchi

  6. Sendai City Hall, 3-7-1 Kokubun-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-0803, Japan

    Natsuru Yasuno

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  1. Natsuru Yasuno
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Correspondence to Natsuru Yasuno.

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Yasuno, N., Shikano, S., Muraoka, A. et al. Seasonal increase of methane in sediment decreases δ13C of larval chironomids in a eutrophic shallow lake. Limnology 13, 107–116 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-011-0360-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-011-0360-6

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