Journal
WATER
Volume 11, Issue 3, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/w11030465
Keywords
alien species; Sparganophilus tamesis; sediments; nitrogen; fluxes; denitrification
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Funding
- French National Research Agency (ANR) [ANR-10-LABX-45]
- INBALANCE (Invertebrate-BacteriAL Associations as hotspots of benthic Nitrogen Cycling in Estuarine ecosystems) project - European Social Fund [09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0069]
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The North American oligochaete Sparganophilus tamesis is widespread in European freshwaters. Its ecological effects on benthic nitrogen (N) biogeochemistry were studied in two contrasting environments: the organic-rich muddy sediments of the eutrophic Mincio River (Italy) and the organic-poor sandy sediments of the oligotrophic Cazaux-Sanguinet Lake (France). Oxygen and inorganic N fluxes and denitrification rates (IPT) were measured by dark incubation of intact cores with different worm biomass. Sediment oxygen demand and denitrification were higher in muddy than in sandy sediments; however, at the two sites, bioturbation by the oligochaetes stimulated differing microbial O-2 and NO3- respiration and NH4+ production. In particular, the relative effect of S. tamesis on sediment metabolism was greater in Cazaux-Sanguinet Lake than in the Mincio River. As a result, S. tamesis favored net N loss in the Mincio River, whereas it increased NH4+ recycling and lowered denitrification efficiency in the Cazaux-Sanguinet Lake. Our results suggest that the effects of S. tamesis on N biogeochemistry might differ depending on local trophic settings. These results have implications for the conservation of isoetids in the French Lake, whose persistence can be menaced by oligochaete-induced nutrient mobilization.
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