Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nitrogen Fixation and Denitrification in the Intertidal and Subtidal Environments of Tomales Bay, California

  • Chapter
Biogeochemistry of Global Change

Abstract

We have examined contemporaneous nitrogen fixation and denitrification at two intertidal and three subtidal sites in Tomales Bay, California over a seasonal cycle. At subtidal sites, denitrification dominates, whereas nitrogen fixation dominates the intertidal sites. Potential rates of denitrification in intertidal sites fluctuate and can be up to one-half the nitrogen-fixation rate; therefore, the net input of fixed nitrogen to intertidal systems varies. Intertidal and subtidal sites appear to play quantitatively distinct roles in the internal, microbially mediated nitrogen cycle in Tomales Bay. However, the limited areal extent of intertidal regions (5% of total sedimentary area) minimizes their contribution of fixed nitrogen to the bay ecosystem. This intertidal input by nitrogen fixation amounts to only 3% of the nitrogen lost during subtidal denitrification.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Aller, R.C. 1980. Quantifying solute distribution in the bioturbated zone of marine sediments by defining an average microenvironment. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 44:1955–1965.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bebout, B.M., H.W. Paerl, K.M. Crocker, and L.E. Prufert. 1987. Diel interactions of oxygenic photosynthesis and N2-fixation (acetylene reduction) in a marine microbial mat community. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 53(10):2353–2362.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Bebout, B.M., D.E. Canfield, D.E. Des Marias, and H.W. Paerl. 1992. Nitrogen cycling in marine microbial mats: Relative importance of microscale nitrogen rem-ineralization and uptake to nitrogen fixation. ASLO Abstract, Winter meeting.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Capone, D.G. 1983. Benthic nitrogen fixation. In E.J. Carpenter and D.G. Capone (eds.), Nitrogen in the Marine Environment, Academic Press, New York, pp. 105–137.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Capone, D.G. 1988. Benthic nitrogen fixation. In T.H. Blackburn and J. Sorensen (eds.), Nitrogen Cycling in Coastal Marine Environments, J. Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 85–123.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Dollar, S.J., S.V. Smith, S.M. Vink, S. Obreski, and J.T. Hollibaugh. 1991. Annual cycle of benthic nutrient fluxes in Tomales Bay, California and contribution of the benthos to total ecosystem metabolism. Marine Ecol. Prog. Ser. 79:115–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Eppley, R.W., and B.J. Peterson. 1979. Particulate organic matter flux and planktonic new production in the deep ocean. Nature 282:677–680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Focht, D.D., and W. Verstrate. 1977. Biochemical ecology of nitrification and denitrification. Adv. Microb. Ecol. 1:135–214.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hardy, R.W.F., R.D. Holsten, E.K. Jackson, and R.C. Burns. 1968. The acetylene-ethylene assay for nitrogen fixation: Laboratory and field evaluation. Plant Physiol. 43:1185–1207.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Harrison, W.G. 1982. Nutrient regeneration and primary productivity in the sea. In P.G. Falowski (ed.), Primary Productivity in the Sea, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 433–460.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Hattori, A. 1983. Denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction. In E.J. Carpenter and D.G. Capone (eds.), Nitrogen in the Marine Environment, Academic Press, New York, pp. 191–232.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Henriksen, K., M.B. Rasmussen, and A. Jensen. 1983. Effect of bioturbation on microbial nitrogen transformations in the sediment and fluxes of ammonium and nitrate to the overlying water. Environ. Biogeochem. Ecol. Bull. 35:193–205.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Hollibaugh, J.T., et al. 1988. Tomales Bay, California: a macrocosm for examining biogeochemical coupling at the land-sea interface. EOS 69:843–845.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Howarth, R.W., R. Marino, J. Lane, and J. Cole. 1988. Nitrogen fixation in freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems: 1. Rates and importance. Limnol. Oceanogr. 33:669–687.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Jones, M. 1984. Nitrate reduction by shaking with cadmium: alternative to cadmium columns Water Res. 18(5):643–646.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Kaspar, H.F. 1983. Denitrification, nitrate reduction to ammonium and inorganic nitrogen pools in intertidal sediments. Marine Biol. 74:133–139.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Kemp, W.M., P. Sampou, J. Caffrey, M. Meyer, K. Henrikson, and W.R. Boynton. 1990. Ammonium regeneration versus denitrification in Chesapeake Bay sediments. Limnol Oceanogr. 35:1545–1563.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Knowles, R. 1978. Denitrification, acetylene reduction and methane metabolism in lake sediment exposed to acetylene. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 38:486–493.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Legendre, L., and M. Gosselin. 1989. New Production and export of organic matter to the deep ocean: Consequences of some recent discoveries. Limnol Oceanogr. 34(7):1374–1380.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Nishio, T., I. Koike, and A. Hattori. 1983. Estimates of denitrification and nitrification in coastal and estuarine sediments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 43:648–653.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Nixon, S.W., C.A. Oviatt, and S.S. Hale. 1976. Nitrogen regeneration and the metabolism of coastal marine bottom communities. In J.M. Anderson and A. Macfayden (eds.), The Role of Terrestrial and Aquatic Organisms in Decomposition Processes, Blackwell, Boston, pp. 269–283.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Nixon, S.W. 1980. Between coastal marshes and coastal waters: A review of twenty years of speculation and research on the role of salt marshes in estuarine productivity and water chemistry. In P. Hamilton and K.B. MacDonald (eds.), Estuarine and Wetland Processes, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 437–525.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Nixon, S.W. 1981. Remineralization and nutrient cycling in coastal marine ecosystems. In B.J. Neilson and L.E. Cronin (eds.), Estuaries and Nutrients, Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, pp. 111–138.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  24. Nixon, S.W., C.A. Oviatt, J. Frithsen, and B. Sullivan. 1987. Nutrients and the productivity of estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems. J. Limnol. Soc. S. Afr. 12(1/2):43–71.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Oremland, R.S., and D.G. Capone. 1987. Use of specific inhibitors in microbial ecological and biogeochemical studies. In K.C. Marshall (ed.), Advances in Microbial Ecology, Vol. 10, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 285–383.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  26. Paerl, H.W., B.M. Bebout, and L.E. Prufert 1989. Naturally occurring patterns of oxygenic photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation in marine microbial mats: Physiological and Ecological Ramifications. In Y. Cohen and E. Rosenberg (eds.), Microbial Mats: Physiological Ecology of Benthic Microbial Communities. American Society of Microbiology, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Parsons, T.R., Y. Maita, and C.M. Lalli. 1984. A Manual of Chemical and Biological Methods for Seawater Analysis, Permagon Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Pilson, M.E.Q. 1985. Annual cycles of nutrients and chlorophyll in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. J. Marine Res. 43:849–873.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Postgate, J.R. 1982. Nitrogen Fixation, Studies in Biology No. 92, E. Arnold, London.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Ryther, J.H., and W.M. Dunstan. 1971. Nitrogen, phosphorus and eutrophication in the coastal marine environment. Science 171:1008–1013.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. SAS Version 5.0. 1985. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Seitzinger, S.P. 1988. Denitrification in freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems: Ecological and geochemical significance. Limnol. Oceanogr. 33:702–724.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Sherer, S., H. Almon, and P. Boger. 1988. Interaction of photosysthesis, respiration and nitrogen fixation in cyanobacteria. Photosyn. Res. 15:95–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Smith, C.J., R.D. DeLaune, and W.H. Patrick, Jr. 1985. Fate of riverine nitrate entering an estuary: 1. Denitrification and nitrogen burial. Estuaries 8:15–21.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Smith, S.V., et al. 1987. Stoichiometry of of C, N, P, and Si fluxes in a temperate-climate embayment. J. Marine Res. 45:427–460.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Smith, S.V., J.T. Hollibaugh, S.J. Dollar, and S. Vink. 1989. Tomales Bay, California: a case for carbon controlled nitrogen cycling. Limnol. Oceanogr. 34: 37–52.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Smith, S.V., and J.T. Hollibaugh. 1989. Carbon-controlled nitrogen cycling in a marine “macrocosm”: an ecosystem scale model for managing cultural eutrophication. Marine Ecol. Prog. Ser. 52:103–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Smith, S.V., J.T. Hollibaugh, S.J. Dollar, and S. Vink. 1991. Tomales Bay Metabolism: C-N-P stoichiometry and ecosystem heterotrophy at the land-sea interface. Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci. 33:223–257.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Sorensen, J. 1978. Denitrification rates in a marine sediment as measured by the acetylene inhibition technique. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 36:139–143.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Stewart, W.D.P. 1975. Nitrogen Fixation by Free-Living Microorganisms, Cambridge University Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Yates, M.G. 1977. Physiological aspects of nitrogen fixation. In W. Newton, J.R. Postgate, and C. Rodrigues-Barrueco (eds.), Recent Developments in Nitrogen Fixation, Academic Press, London, pp. 219–270.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morehead City, North Carolina, 28557, USA

    Samantha B. Joye & Hans W. Paerl

Authors
  1. Samantha B. Joye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hans W. Paerl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. ISEB, Menlo Park, California, USA

    Ronald S. Oremland (Chairman) (Chairman)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1993 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Joye, S.B., Paerl, H.W. (1993). Nitrogen Fixation and Denitrification in the Intertidal and Subtidal Environments of Tomales Bay, California. In: Oremland, R.S. (eds) Biogeochemistry of Global Change. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2812-8_35

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2812-8_35

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6215-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-2812-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation