Nitrogen removal through N cycling from sediments in a constructed coastal marsh as assessed by 15N–isotope dilution

Ro, Hee-Myong; Kim, Pan-Gun; Park, Ji-Suk; Yun, Seok-In; Han, Junho

Nitrogen removal through N cycling from sediments in a constructed coastal marsh as assessed by 15N–isotope dilution

2018

Ro, Hee-Myong | Kim, Pan-Gun | Park, Ji-Suk | Yun, Seok-In | Han, Junho

Constructed coastal marsh regulates land-born nitrogen (N) loadings through salinity-dependent microbial N transformation processes. A hypothesis that salinity predominantly controls N removal in marsh was tested through incubation in a closed system with added-15NH4+ using sediments collected from five sub-marshes in Shihwa marsh, Korea. Time-course patterns of concentrations and 15N–atom% of soil-N pools were analyzed. Sediments having higher salinity and lower soil organic-C and acid-extractable organic-N exhibited slower rates of N mineralization and immobilization, nitrification, and denitrification. Rates of denitrification were not predicted well by sediment salinity but by its organic-C, indicating heterotrophic denitrification. Denitrification dominated N-loss from this marsh, and nitrogen removal capacity of this marsh was estimated at 337 kg N day−1 (9.9% of the daily N-loadings) considering the current rooting depth of common reeds (1.0 m). We showed that sediment N removal decreases with increasing salinity and can increase with increasing organic-C for heterotrophic denitrification.

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