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Benthic Respiration in Aquatic Sediments

  • Chapter
Methods in Ecosystem Science

Abstract

Sediments make up an important compartment in the energy flow of aquatic ecosystems. On the continental shelves, 10 to 50% of the primary production reaches the sea-floor, most of which is mineralized there (Suess 1980; Wollast 1991; Canfield 1993). Through the balance between retention and release of nutrients, benthic mineralization influences the nutrient dynamics of the ecosystem (e.g., Howarth 1988), and through their regulatory effect on the burial of residual carbon and associated nutrients, mineralization processes may also affect the global cycles of these elements (Canfield 1994; Hedges and Keil 1995).

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Authors
  1. Bo Thamdrup
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  2. Donald E. Canfield
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. IFEVA, Cátedra de Ecología, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Av. San Martin 4453, Buenos Aires, 1417, Argentina

    Osvaldo E. Sala

  2. Department of Biology and Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Phytotron Building, Durham, NC, 27708, USA

    Robert B. Jackson

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Harold A. Mooney

  4. Program in Biogeochemistry and Environmental Change, Section of Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University, Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Robert W. Howarth

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Thamdrup, B., Canfield, D.E. (2000). Benthic Respiration in Aquatic Sediments. In: Sala, O.E., Jackson, R.B., Mooney, H.A., Howarth, R.W. (eds) Methods in Ecosystem Science. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1224-9_7

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