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Nitrifiers and their contribution to oxygen consumption in Lake Erie

Clevinger, Curtis C
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1385130018

Abstract Details

2013, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Biological Sciences.
Nitrification is a prokaryote-mediated oxygen consumptive process of the oxidation of ammonia to nitrite/nitrate that traditionally has been only viewed as a nutrient transformation process. Renewed concern about hypoxia in the shallow hypolimnion of the Central Basin of Lake Erie provides impetus for examining whether nitrification has a significant impact on oxygen dynamics. To evaluate the contribution of nitrification to oxygen demand, water column and sediment samples were collected during the summers of 2008-2010 in Lake Erie and the oxygen consumption due to nitrification and the abundance and distribution of potential bacterial (AOB) and archaeal (AOA) that oxidize ammonia to nitrite was characterized in water column and sediment samples by qPCR of a portion of the ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene. Environmental variables and nitrification rates were examined for correlations to understand factors that may control nitrification rates and/or the distribution of nitrifiers. The nitrification rate in the epilimnion and hypolimnion was 3.1 ± 3.2 micromole N/L/day and 3.7 ± 2.9 (mean ± 1 SD) micromole oxygen/L/day respectively. Nitrification accounted for 28.2 ± 23.1% of the total oxygen consumption in the epilimnion and 32.6 ± 22.2% in the hypolimnion. Oxygen consumption by nitrification in sediment slurries and intact sediment cores was 7.1 ± 5.8 micromole oxygen/gram/day and 682 ± 61.1 micromole oxygen/square m/day respectively. Nitrification accounted for 27.0 ± 19.2% of the total oxygen consumption in sediment slurries and 30.4 ± 10.7% in intact sediment cores. AOA and AOB were present in all samples, with a distribution that was variable over time and space. Highlighting the potential importance of archaeal nitrifiers, the AOA/AOB ratio in the epilimnion, hypolimnion, and sediments was 1.02, 1.08, and 5.25. The nitrification rate or nitrifier numbers did not strongly correlate with environmental factors such as oxygen, nitrate or ammonium. In the water column, respiration and the percentage of oxygen used due to nitrification were negatively correlated. While nitrification is unlikely to be the dominant oxygen consumptive process, the rates observed in Lake Erie were sufficient to theoretically deplete a large portion of the hypolimnetic oxygen pool during the stratified period.
Darren Bade (Committee Chair)
144 p.
Limnology; Microbiology
Lake Erie, hypoxia, nitrification, oxygen consumption, archaea, bacteria

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Clevinger, C. C. (2013). Nitrifiers and their contribution to oxygen consumption in Lake Erie [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1385130018

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Clevinger, Curtis. Nitrifiers and their contribution to oxygen consumption in Lake Erie. 2013. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1385130018.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Clevinger, Curtis. "Nitrifiers and their contribution to oxygen consumption in Lake Erie." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1385130018

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1385130018
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© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.