Document of bibliographic reference 7389

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

The fate of intertidal microphytobenthos carbon: an in situ ¹³C-labeling study

Abstract

At two intertidal sites (one sandy and one silty, in the Scheldt estuary, The Netherlands), the fate of microphytobenthos was studied through an in situ ¹³C pulse- chase experiment. Label was added at the beginning of low tide, and uptake of ¹³C by algae was linear during the whole period of tidal exposure (about 27 mg m^-2 h^-1 in the top millimeter at both sites). The ¹³C fixed by microphytobenthos was rapidly displaced toward deeper sediment layers (down to 6 cm), in particular at the dynamic, sandy site. The residence times of microphytobenthos with respect to external losses (resuspension and respiration) were about 2.4 and 5.6 d at the sandy and silly stations, respectively. The transfer of carbon from microphytobenthos to benthic consumers was estimated from the appearance of ¹³C in bacterial biomarkers, handpicked nematodes, and macrofauna. The incorporation of ¹³C into bacterial biomass was quantified by carbon isotope analysis of polar lipid derived fatty acids specific for bacteria. The bacterial polar lipid-derived fatty acids (i14:0, i15:0, a15:0, i16:0, and 18:1 omega 7c) showed rapid, significant transfer from benthic algae to bacteria with maximum labeling after 1 d. Nematodes became enriched after 1 h, and ¹³C assimilation increased until day 3. Microphytobenthos carbon entered all heterotrophic components in proportion to heterotrophic biomass distribution (bacteria > macrofauna > meiofauna). Our results indicate a central role for microphytobenthos in moderating carbon flow in coastal sediments.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000089396500002

Bibliographic citation

Middelburg, J.J.; Barranguet, C.; Boschker, H.T.S.; Herman, P.M.J.; Moens, T.; Heip, C.H.R. (2000). The fate of intertidal microphytobenthos carbon: an in situ ¹³C-labeling study. Limnol. Oceanogr. 45(6): 1224-1234. http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.2000.45.6.1224

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true