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Disproportionate variations in denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation across freshwater-oligohaline wetlands in Min River Estuary, Southeast China

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Abstract

Spatial and temporal variations in soil denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) across the freshwater-oligohaline wetlands in subtropical estuary have not been well understood. In this study, continuous-flow soil core incubation combined with nitrogen isotope tracer was used to determine denitrification and anammox rates across freshwater-oligohaline tidal wetlands in Min River Estuary, Southeast China. Areal rates of denitrification and anammox varied from 3.89 to 19.0 μmol m−2 h−1 and from 0.15 to 1.11 μmol m−2 h−1, respectively, across these wetlands and throughout sampling months. Denitrification rates were higher in warm months (July, September) than in cool months (November, January), whereas anammox did not vary significantly across the sampling months. Average denitrification rates throughout the sampling months were higher in freshwater than in oligohaline wetlands, while anammox rates did not vary among the wetlands. Relative contribution of anammox (Ra) to N2 production (including denitrification and anammox) varied from 1.03 to 18.3% across the sampling months and wetlands. Denitrification rates differed significantly across the wetlands and sampling months. Anammox rates and Ra did not vary significantly among the sampling months. Denitrification rates were positively correlated with water content, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen, dissolved organic nitrogen, NH4+, NOx–, Fe2+, and Fe2+/Fe3+, but negatively related to pH. Anammox rates showed negative relationships with water content and TOC. Water content, temperature, and pH were crucial for organic carbon and Fe2+ availability with important implications on denitrification and anammox. Therefore, denitrification rates vary significantly, whereas anammox rates do not vary significantly across freshwater-oligohaline wetlands in the Min River Estuary.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 42071130, and 41701548), Fujian Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 2020J01184), and Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), East China Normal University (Grant No. KLGIS2020A01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Humid Subtropical Eco-geographical Processes of the Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China

    Mengting Qi, Wei Qian, Zhibiao Chen, Chuan Tong & Xiaofei Li

  2. School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China

    Mengting Qi, Wei Qian, Zhibiao Chen, Chuan Tong & Xiaofei Li

  3. State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China

    Xiaofei Li

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  1. Mengting Qi
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  2. Wei Qian
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  3. Zhibiao Chen
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  4. Chuan Tong
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  5. Xiaofei Li
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Contributions

Mengting Qi: investigation, methodology, formal analysis, writing - original draft

Wei Qian: investigation, methodology, formal analysis, writing - original draft

Zhibiao Chen: conceptualization, writing - review and editing

Chuan Tong: conceptualization, writing - review and editing

Xiaofei Li: conceptualization, investigation, data curation, funding acquisition, investigation, methodology, formal analysis, writing - original draft

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Correspondence to Xiaofei Li.

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Qi, ., Qian, W., Chen, Z. et al. Disproportionate variations in denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation across freshwater-oligohaline wetlands in Min River Estuary, Southeast China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 6678–6687 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16152-y

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