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Particulate organic matter quality influences nitrate retention and denitrification in stream sediments: evidence from a carbon burial experiment

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Abstract

Organic carbon supply is linked to nitrogen transformation in ecosystems. However, the role of organic carbon quality in nitrogen processing is not as well understood. We determined how the quality of particulate organic carbon (POC) influenced nitrogen transformation in stream sediments by burying identical quantities of varying quality POC (northern red oak (Quercus rubra) leaves, red maple (Acer rubrum) leaves, red maple wood) in stream mesocosms and measuring the effects on nitrogen retention and denitrification compared to a control of combusted sand. We also determined how POC quality affected the quantity and quality of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved oxygen concentration in groundwater. Nitrate and total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) retention were assessed by comparing solute concentrations and fluxes along groundwater flow paths in the mesocosms. Denitrification was measured by in situ changes in N2 concentrations (using MIMS) and by acetylene block incubations. POC quality was measured by C:N and lignin:N ratios and DOC quality was assessed by fluorescence excitation emission matrix spectroscopy. POC quality had strong effects on nitrogen processing. Leaf treatments had much higher nitrate retention, TDN retention and denitrification rates than the wood and control treatments and red maple leaf burial resulted in higher nitrate and TDN retention rates than burial of red oak leaves. Leaf, but not wood, burial drove pore water to severe hypoxia and leaf treatments had higher DOC production and different DOC chemical composition than the wood and control treatments. We think that POC quality affected nitrogen processing in the sediments by influencing the quantity and quality of DOC and redox conditions. Our results suggest that the type of organic carbon inputs can affect the rates of nitrogen transformation in stream ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Courtney Heling, Mike Louison, Alyssa McCumber and Erin Grantz for technical assistance. Will Cook at Duke University conducted the CN analysis and Jeff Merriam at the United States Forest Service performed the DOC and DON analysis. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by a grant from the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute through the Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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  1. Department of Biology and Microbiology, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Blvd, Oshkosh, WI, 54901, USA

    Robert S. Stelzer

  2. Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences, University of Arkansas, 115 Plant Science Building, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA

    J. Thad Scott

  3. Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, United States Geological Survey, 2630 Fanta Reed Road, La Crosse, WI, 54603, USA

    Lynn A. Bartsch

  4. School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Deering Hall, Orono, ME, 04473, USA

    Thomas. B. Parr

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Correspondence to Robert S. Stelzer.

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Stelzer, R.S., Thad Scott, J., Bartsch, L.A. et al. Particulate organic matter quality influences nitrate retention and denitrification in stream sediments: evidence from a carbon burial experiment. Biogeochemistry 119, 387–402 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-014-9975-0

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