Sediment-associated organic matter sources and sediment oxygen demand in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC): A case study of the River Axe, UK.

ABSTRACT: Oxygen demand in river substrates providing important habitats for the early life stages of aquatic ecology, including lithophilous fish, can arise due to the oxidation of sediment-associated organic matter. Oxygen depletion associated with this component of river biogeochemical cycling, will, in part, depend on the sources of such material. A reconnaissance survey was therefore undertaken to assess the relative contributions from bed sediment-associated organic matter sources potentially impacting on the River Axe Special Area of Conservation (SAC), in SW England. Source fingerprinting, including Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis, suggested that the relative frequency-weighted average median source contributions ranged between 19% (uncertainty range 0-82%) and 64% (uncertainty range 0-99%)

SUBMITTER: Collins AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5832314 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature