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Low levels of oxygen (O) in the hypolimnion layer of lakes are harmful to benthic animals and fish; they may also adversely affect nutrient cycles. Artificial aeration is often used in lake management to counteract these problems, but the effects of aeration on nitrogen (N) cycling are not known. We studied the effects of hypolimnetic aeration on N dynamics and temperature in a eutrophic lake by comparing continuous and pulsed aeration with a nonaerated station. Aeration decreased the accumulation of NH-N deep in the lake (20-33 m) by supplying O for nitrification, which in turn provided substrate for denitrification and promoted N removal. Aeration also increased the temperature in the hypolimnion. Denitrification rate was highest in the nonaerated deep areas (average, 7.62 mg N m d) due to very high rates during spring turnover of the water column, demonstrating that natural turnover provides O for nitrification. During stratification, denitrification was highest at the continuously aerated station (4.06 mg N m d) and lowest at the nonaerated station (3.02 mg N m d). At the periodically aerated station, aeration pauses did not restrict the increase in temperature but resulted in accumulation of NH-N and decreased the contribution of denitrification as a nitrate reduction process. Our findings demonstrate that hypolimnetic aeration can substantially affect N cycling in lakes and that the effect depends on the aeration strategy. Because N is one of the main nutrients controlling eutrophication, the effects of aeration methods on N removal should be considered as part of strategies to manage water quality in lakes., (Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.)

Chemolithoautotrophic denitrification is an important mechanism of nitrogen loss in the water column of euxinic basins, but its isotope fractionation factor is not known. Sulfurimonas gotlandica GD1(T), a recently isolated bacterial key player in Baltic Sea pelagic redoxcline processes, was used to determine the isotope fractionation of nitrogen and oxygen in nitrate during denitrification. Under anoxic conditions, nitrate reduction was accompanied by nitrogen and oxygen isotope fractionation of 23.8 ± 2.5‰ and 11.7 ± 1.1‰, respectively. The isotope effect for nitrogen was in the range determined for heterotrophic denitrification, with only the absence of stirring resulting in a significant decrease of the fractionation factor. The relative increase in δ(18)ONO3 to δ(15)NNO3 did not follow the 1:1 relationship characteristic of heterotrophic, marine denitrification. Instead, δ(18)ONO3 increased slower than δ(15)NNO3, with a conserved ratio of 0.5:1. This result suggests that the periplasmic nitrate reductase (Nap) of S. gotlandica strain GD1(T) fractionates the N and O in nitrate differently than the membrane-bound nitrate reductase (Nar), which is generally prevalent among heterotrophic denitrifiers and is considered as the dominant driver for the observed isotope fractionation. Hence in the Baltic Sea redoxcline, other, as yet-unidentified factors likely explain the low apparent fractionation.

Seasonally changing mechanisms affect the concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and soluble reactive phosphorus, which differ between the stands of different macrophyte life forms and open water in a eutrophic lake. Macrophytes that take nutrients up for their growth also shelter sediments from resuspension that brings nutrients back to the water and affect denitrification, which removes nitrogen from the water ecosystem. In this study the changes in nutrient concentrations were observed during the open-water period from April to November, and also denitrification rates were measured at different phases of the open-water season. The study was conducted at a shallow eutrophic lake where the effect of macrophytes on water quality is remarkable. The concentration changes of different nitrogen forms during the summer were very similar at the open-water and floating-leaved macrophyte ( Nuphar lutea L.) stations. Nitrate was depleted faster among the submerged macrophytes ( Myriophyllum verticillatum L.) than among floating-leaved plants or in open water. The decrease in the concentration of nitrate was so significant during the summer that it also affected the total nitrogen concentration in the water. Denitrification was highest in sediments among floating-leaved macrophytes (average 4.3 mg N m d) and lowest in sediments of submerged plants (average 1.5 mg N m d). Denitrification among submerged macrophytes was limited by low nitrate availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estuaries have been suggested to have an important role in reducing the nitrogen load transported to the sea. We measured denitrification rates in six estuaries of the northern Baltic Sea. Four of them were river mouths in the Bothnian Bay (northern Gulf of Bothnia), and two were estuary bays, one in the Archipelago Sea (southern Gulf of Bothnia) and the other in the Gulf of Finland. Denitrification rates in the four river mouths varied between 330 and 905 µmol N m-2 d-1. The estuary bays at the Archipelago Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia had denitrification rates from 90 µmol N m-2 d-1 to 910 µmol N m-2 d-1 and from 230 µmol N m-2 d-1 to 320 µmol N m-2 d-1, respectively. Denitrification removed 3.6-9.0% of the total nitrogen loading in the river mouths and in the estuary bay in the Gulf of Finland, where the residence times were short. In the estuary bay with a long residence time, in the Archipelago Sea, up to 4.5% of nitrate loading and 19% of nitrogen loading were removed before entering the sea. According to our results, the sediments of the fast-flowing rivers and the estuary areas with short residence times have a limited capacity to reduce the nitrogen load to the Baltic Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cyanobacterial bloom in the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea, was sampled throughout the development and senescence of aggregates in August 1999. While conditions inside the aggregates were favourable for denitrification (rich in nitrogen and carbon, with anoxic microzones), essentially none was detected by a sensitive isotope pairing method. Polymerase chain reaction-based methods, targeting functional genes encoding the key enzymes of denitrification and nitrification processes (nirS, nirK, amoA), revealed that the non-aggregated filaments harboured amoA gene fragments with high similarity to Nitrosospira amoA sequences, as well as both types of nitrite reductase genes, nirS and nirK. Only the nirS-type nitrite reductase gene and no amoA was detected in aggregated filaments. Thus, despite optimal environmental conditions and genetic potential for denitrification, the blooms of filamentous nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria must be seen solely as a source, and not as a sink of nitrogen in the Baltic Sea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]