Drying and Rainfall Shape the Structure and Functioning of Nitrifying Microbial Communities in Riverbed Sediments.

ABSTRACT: Non-flow periods in fluvial ecosystems are a global phenomenon. Streambed drying and rewetting by sporadic rainfalls could drive considerable changes in the microbial communities that govern stream nitrogen (N) availability at different temporal and spatial scales. We performed a microcosm-based experiment to investigate how dry period duration (DPD) (0, 3, 6, and 9 weeks) and magnitude of sporadic rewetting by rainfall (0, 4, and 21 mm applied at end of dry period) affected stocks of N in riverbed sediments, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) and rates of ammonia oxidation (AO), and emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O) to the atmosphere. While ammonium (NH₄ ⁺) pool size decreased, nitrate (NO₃ ^-) pool size increased in sed

SUBMITTER: Arce MI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6250940 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature