Organic carbon and iron modulate nitrification rates in mangrove swamps of Goa, south west coast of India     

K.P. Krishnan  P.A. Loka Bharathi   《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2009,84(3):419

Nitrification, fuelled by ammonium is the pivotal oxidative pathway to nitrogen cycling. In spite of its ecological significance, the factors regulating nitrification rates in the benthic realm remain poorly understood. The present study therefore examines some of the factors like ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, organic carbon, iron and manganese on down-core variability in benthic nitrification rates in two different mangrove ecosystems, one under the influence of ferromanganese ore mining (experiment) and the other relatively undisturbed (control). We hypothesize that besides organic carbon, iron could also influence the rate of nitrification. The study also contrasts the distributive pattern of autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrifiers in the two regions. The concentration of iron at the control site ranged from 1.1% to 15.1% while at the experimental site it ranged from 2.9% to 46%. The levels of organic carbon at control and experimental sites ranged from 0.02% to 6.9% and 0.1% to 6.5%, respectively. The nitrification rates at the control and experimental sites are comparable and ranged from 3.2 ± 1.2 to 18.4 ± 1.9 ng at-N g(sediment)⁻¹ h⁻¹ and 2.7 ± 1.5 to 18.2 ± 0.6 ng at-N g(sediment)⁻¹ h⁻¹, respectively. While the abundance of heterotrophic nitrifiers at both the sites ranged from 10^2–3 cells g⁻¹ sediment, the autotrophic nitrifiers at the experimental site was higher by an order at 10³ cells g⁻¹ sediment reflecting the relatively higher refractile nature of organic carbon at the experimental site (Straus and Lamberti, 2000). Though organic carbon and nitrification rates are similar in both the sites, the underlying mechanisms governing the processes could be different. Our studies suggest that at the control site, heterotrophic nitrifiers govern nitrification rates (r = 0.28, p < 0.05, n = 64) using organic carbon (r = 0.32, p < 0.01, n = 64). At the experimental site, nitrification was governed more by autotrophic nitrifiers (r = 0.43, p < 0.001, n = 64) at the expense of iron (r = 0.47, p < 0.001, n = 64). Therefore at the experimental site with higher load of iron, autotrophic nitrification could be more important. It is therefore inferred that both the quality of organic carbon and quantity of iron govern nitrification rates in these mangrove swamps.  相似文献   

Response of Sedimentary Nucleic Acids to Benthic Disturbance in the Central Indian Basin     

C. E. G. Fernandes  M. J. B. D. De Souza  Shanta Nair  P. A. Loka Bharathi 《Marine Georesources & Geotechnology》2013,31(4):289-297

Information on the response of nucleic acids (i.e., DNA and RNA) to simulated benthic disturbance was obtained from samples collected from eight sediment cores (0–10 cm) located in the Central Indian Basin (CIB). In general the total sedimentary DNA (DNA) increased with depth (from 380.09 to 408.99 μg·g^?1), while total sedimentary RNA (RNA) decreased (from 878.13 to 484.16 μg·g^?1). Following the simulated benthic disturbance brought about by the benthic hydraulic disturber, DNA decreased by 10% along the disturbed track while the RNA increased by around 75%. The RNA/DNA ratio decreased nearly 10%. However, the ratio doubled along the disturbed track suggesting that the activity was stimulated at molecular level following artif icial disturbance. The nucleic acid ratio thus shows that the CIB sediments are metabolically active, and with disturbance the activity tends to increase further.  相似文献   

Chemical composition of rain water and influence of airmass trajectories at a rural site in an ecological sensitive area of Western Ghats (India)     

Jetta Satyanarayana  Loka Arun Kumar Reddy  Monika Jain Kulshrestha  R Nageswara Rao  Umesh Chandra Kulshrestha 《Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry》2010,66(3):101-116

Samples of rain water were collected during monsoon season (June to September) of 2006 and 2007 at Hudegadde, a rural site located in an ecological sensitive area of Western Ghats. The collected samples were analyzed for pH, conductivity and major ions. At this site, rainwater pH varied from 4.20 to 7.39 with 5.65 as volume weighed mean. The observed mean was slightly lower than the average pH reported at most of the Indian continental sites. Monthly variation showed that average pH of rain water was the lowest during September (end of monsoon) and the highest during July (peak of monsoon). Overall, marine sources had dominating influence at this site. However, significant influence of anthropogenic and crustal sources from local as well as inter-continental regions was also noticed. As compared to NO₃⁻, higher concentration of SO₄²⁻ was noticed which might be due to contribution from industrial activities responsible for SO₂ emission. At this site, influence of five types of airmass trajectories was noticed i.e. i) C.I.O. (Central part of Indian Ocean)-when air masses blown from Maldives and nearby region of central Indian ocean. These airmasses had higher concentrations of nss Ca²⁺ which did not show any adverse impact on the pH; ii) N.W.I.O.(North-West Indian Ocean)-when airmasses travelled from oceanic region close to north-east Africa. These airmassses had higher concentrations of nss sulphate and nitrate and gave rise to acid rain; iii) S.W.I.O. (South -West Indian Ocean)- when airmasses came from southern part of Indian ocean (close to Mauritius). During these airmasses, rain water samples had almost equal ratio of nss SO₄²⁻ and nss Ca²⁺ similar to N.W.I.O but very low NO₃⁻ ; iv) Gulf-when airmasses were observed coming from Gulf region. Although these airmasses contributed only 2% of the total number of samples but carried high amount of nss SO₄²⁻ which gave rise to acid rain. The second lowest pH was observed during these airmasses which might be due to very high nssSO₄²⁻/nssCa²⁺ ratios; v) N.W.I.O. + S.W.I.C. (North-West Indian Ocean+South-West Indian Continental)- when airmasses originated from north-west Indian Ocean travelling towards south continental part of India and then arriving to the site. During these airmasses, samples showed typical influence of urban activities having high concentrations of nss SO₄²⁻ and NO₃⁻ leading to the lowest pH of rain water.  相似文献   

Mercury and lead tolerance in hypersaline sulfate-reducing bacteria   总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5  

Harithsa S  Kerkar S  Loka Bharathi PA 《Marine pollution bulletin》2002,44(8):726-732

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) HSR1, HSR4, and HSR14 isolated from the salt pans of Goa grew best at 90-100/1000 salinity on substrates like formate, acetate, lactate, butyrate, ethanol and benzoate. They were gram negative, non-sporulating, non-motile rods lacking in desulfoviridin and cytochromes. Examination of these isolates for heavy metal tolerance and response studies in terms of growth and sulfate-reducing activity (SRA) were carried out using HgCl2 and Pb(NO3)2 at final concentration of 50, 100, and 200 and 100, 200 and 500 microg ml(-1) respectively. With Hg, HSR1 showed approximately 80% of the control's growth at 100 and 200 microg ml(-1) but SRA reached only 60% of the control values at the end of 14 days. HSR14 could reach >100% of the control's growth at 200 microg ml(-1) but the SRA reached only up to 60% of the control without metal at 100 microg ml(-1). Though the concentration of Pb was double that of Hg, HSR4 could grow and respire better than the control, the growth being stimulated by 160% and respiration by 170% in the presence of 500 microg ml(-1) of Pb(NO3)2. It is probable that some hypersaline SRB are more tolerant to heavy metals than the mesohaline counterparts and could be more effectively used for precipitating these metals in bioremediatory measures. Further examination of their responses to varied concentration of metals under different salinities would indicate their range of applicability.  相似文献