Suspended solids induce increasing microbial ammonium recycling along the river-estuary continuum of the Yangtze River
Jingya Xue
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorZhonghua Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
Search for more papers by this authorXiaolong Yao
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
Search for more papers by this authorWeiting Liu
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Lu Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
Correspondence
Lu Zhang, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJingya Xue
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorZhonghua Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
Search for more papers by this authorXiaolong Yao
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
Search for more papers by this authorWeiting Liu
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Lu Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
Correspondence
Lu Zhang, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Many large rivers worldwide are enriched with high levels of suspended solids (SS), which are known to be hotspots of many nitrogen (N) transformation processes (e.g., denitrification, nitrification). However, the influence of SS on microbial ammonium (NH4+) recycling remains unclear. Water column NH4+ regeneration rates (REGs) and potential uptake rates (Upots) as well as community biological NH4+ demand (CBAD) was measured in the river-estuary continuum of the third longest river in the world—Yangtze River, which has dramatic SS gradients. We found that REGs, Upots, and CBAD all increased downriver, with higher REGs, Upots, and CBAD in the estuary than in the river sections. The regeneration and uptake of NH4+ were nearly balanced in the river sections, while the positive CBAD in the estuary indicated obvious NH4+ demand of microbes. Concentrations of SS, which also control the content of chemical oxygen demand and particulate N, were the main factor influencing NH4+ recycling rates and CBAD. SS-induced regenerated NH4+ in the river-estuary continuum of Yangtze River was estimated to be 11.02 × 108 kg N yr−1 and accounted for about 14% of total N inputs, suggesting that regenerated NH4+ is an important N source for microbes and may influence nutrient dynamics in lower coasts. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report NH4+ recycling in Yangtze River with an emphasis on its influencing factors and contribution to N budgets.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (Professor Lu Zhang, [email protected]).
Supporting Information
| Filename | Description |
|---|---|
| hyp14345-sup-0001-SupInfo.docxWord 2007 document , 411.7 KB | Figure S1. Relationship between REGs and Upots in the river-estuary continuum of Yangtze River. Figure S2. Correlation analyses between SS and COD, TN, PN in the river-estuary continuum of Yangtze River. Figure S3. Correlation analyses of PN and Chl-a in the river-estuary continuum of Yangtze River. |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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