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Adverse Effects of Ammonia on Nitrification Process: the Case of Chinese Shallow Freshwater Lakes

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Abstract

Nitrification is a process in which ammonia is oxidized to nitrite (NO −2 ) that is further oxidized to nitrate (NO −3 ). The relations between these two steps and ambient ammonia concentrations were studied in surface water of Chinese shallow lakes with different trophic status. For the oxidations of both ammonia and NO −2 , more eutrophic lakes generally showed significantly higher potential and actual rates, which was linked with excessive ammonia concentrations. Additionally, both potential and actual rates for ammonia oxidation were higher than those for NO −2 oxidation in the more eutrophic lakes, while in the lakes with lower trophic status, both potential and actual rates for ammonia oxidation were almost equivalent to those for NO −2 oxidation. This can be explained by the excessive unionized ammonia (NH3) concentration that inhibits nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in the more eutrophic lakes. The laboratory experiment with different ammonia concentrations, using the surface water in a eutrophic lake, showed that ammonia oxidation rates were proportional to the ammonia concentrations, but NO −2 oxidation rates did not increase in parallel. Furthermore, NO −2 oxidation was less associated with particles in natural water of the studied lakes. Without effective protection, it would be selectively inhibited by the excessive ammonia in hypereutrophic lakes, resulting in NO −2 accumulation. Shortly, the increased concentrations of ammonia cause a misbalance between the NO −2 -producing and the NO −2 -consuming processes, thereby exacerbating the lake eutrophication.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2008CB418006) and the grants (KZCX2-YW-426-01 and KZCX1-YW-14-1) from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Mr. Yunbing Liu, Yingjie Li, Neng Wan, Yu Zeng, Zhi Wang, and Shanlian Qiu are thanked for their assistance throughout the course of this study.

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  1. Institute of Hydrobiology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Donghu Nan Road, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China

    Guoyuan Chen, Xiuyun Cao, Chunlei Song & Yiyong Zhou

  2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China

    Guoyuan Chen

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  1. Guoyuan Chen
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  2. Xiuyun Cao
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  3. Chunlei Song
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Correspondence to Yiyong Zhou.

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Chen, G., Cao, X., Song, C. et al. Adverse Effects of Ammonia on Nitrification Process: the Case of Chinese Shallow Freshwater Lakes. Water Air Soil Pollut 210, 297–306 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-009-0253-z

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