[en] Planktonic gross primary production (GPP), community respiration (CR), and nitrification (NIT) were
measured monthly in the Scheldt estuary by the oxygen incubation method in 2003. No significant evolution of planktonic
GPP was observed since the 1990s with high rates in the freshwater area (salinity 0; 97 6 65 mmol C m22 d21) decreasing
seaward (22–37 mmol C m22 d21). A significant decrease of NIT was observed with regard to previous investigations although
this process still represents up to 20% of total organic matter production in the inner estuary. Planktonic CR was highest in
the inner estuary and seemed to be mainly controlled by external organic matter inputs. Planktonic net community
production was negative most of the time in the estuary with values ranging from 2300 to 165 mmol C m22 d21. Whole
estuary net ecosystem production (NEP) was investigated on an annual scale using the results mentioned above and published
benthic metabolic rates. A NEP of 239 6 8 mmol C m22 d21 was estimated, which confirms the strong heterotrophic status of
this highly nutrified estuary. NEP rates were computed from June to December 2003 to compare with results derived from
the Land-Ocean Interaction in the Coastal Zone budgeting procedure applied to dissolved inorganic phosphorus and carbon
(DIP and DIC). DIP budgets failed to provide realistic estimates in the inner estuary where abiotic processes account for
more than 50% of the nonconservative DIP flux. DIC budgets predicted a much lower NEP than in situ incubations (2109 6
31 versus 242 6 9 mmol C m22 d21) although, as each approach is associated with several critical assumptions, the source of
this discrepancy remains unclear.
Disciplines :
Aquatic sciences & oceanology
Author, co-author :
Gazeau, Frédéric; Université de Paris 6 > Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche
Gattuso, Jean-Pierre; Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) > Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology
Middelburg, Jack J.; Vrije Universiteit Brussel > Department of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry
Brion, Natacha
Schiettecatte, Laure-Sophie
Frankignoulle, Michel; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Océanographie chimique
Borges, Alberto ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Océanographie chimique
Language :
English
Title :
Planktonic and whole system metabolism in a nutrient rich estuary (the Scheldt estuary)
Publication date :
2005
Journal title :
Estuaries
ISSN :
0160-8347
Publisher :
Estuarine Research Federation, Lawrence, United States - Kansas
ABRIL, G. AND A. V. BORGES. 2004. Carbon dioxide and methane emissions from estuaries, p. 187-207. In A. Tremblay, L. Varfalvy, C. Roehm, and M. Garneau (eds.), Greenhouse Gases Emissions from Natural Environments and Hydroelectric Reservoirs: Fluxes and Processes. Springer-Verlag, New York.
ANDERSSON, M. G. I., N. BRION, AND J. J. MIDDELBURG. 2005. Nitrifier activity and growth in a turbid, tidal estuary. Aquatic Microbial Ecology in press.
BARRANGUET, C., J. KROMKAMP, AND J. PEENE. 1998. Factors controlling primary production and photosynthetic characteristics of intertidal microphytobenthos. Marine Ecology Progress Series 173:117-126.
BENDER, M. E. AND R. A. JORDAN. 1970. Plastic enclosure versus open lake productivity measurements. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 99:607-610.
BENSON, B. B. AND D. J. KRAUSE. 1984. The concentration and isotopic fractionation of oxygen dissolved in fresh water and seawater in equilibrium with the atmosphere. Limnology and Oceanography 29:620-632.
BEROUNSKY, V. M. AND S. W. NIXON. 1993. Rates of nitrification along an estuarine gradient in Narragansett Bay. Estuaries 16:718-730.
BILLEN, G., J. GARNIER, AND V. ROUSSEAU. 2005. Nutrient fluxes and water quality in the drainage network of the Scheldt basin over the last 50 years. Hydrobiologia 540:47-67.
BORGES, A. V. 2005. Do we have enough pieces of the jigsaw to integrate CO2 fluxes in the coastal ocean? Estuaries 28:3-27.
BORGES, A. V., B. DELILLE, AND M. FRANKIGNOULLE. 2005. Budgeting sinks and sources of CO2 in the coastal ocean: Diversity of ecosystems counts. Geophysical Research Letters 32: L14601, doi:10.1029/2005GL023053.
BORGES, A. V., B. DELILLE, L.-S. SCHIETTECATTE, F. GAZEAU, G. ABRIL, AND M. FRANKIGNOULLE. 2004a. Gas transfer velocities of CO2 in three European estuaries (Randers Fjord, Scheldt and Thames). Limnology and Oceanography 49:1630-1641.
BORGES, A. V., J.-P. VANDERBORGHT, L.-S. SCHIETTECATTE, F. GAZEAU, S. FERRÓN-SMITH, B. DELILLE, AND M. FRANKIGNOULLE. 2004b. Variability of the gas transfer velocity of CO2 in a macrotidal estuary (The Scheldt). Estuaries 27:595-605.
BOSCHKER, H. T. S., J. C. KROMKAMP, AND J. J. MIDDELBURG. 2005. Biomarker and carbon isotopic constraints on bacterial and algal community structure and functioning in a turbid, tidal estuary. Limnology and Oceanography 50:70-80.
BRION, N., G. BILLEN, L. GUEZENNEC, AND A. FICHT. 2000. Distribution of nitrifying activity in the Seine River (France) from Paris to the estuary. Estuaries 23:669-682.
CAFFREY, J. M. 2004. Factors controlling net ecosystem metabolism in U.S. estuaries. Estuaries 27:90-101.
DE BIE, M. J. M., M. STARINK, H. T. S. BOSCHKER, J. PEENE, AND H. J. LAANBROEK. 2002. Nitrification in the Schelde estuary: Methodological aspects and factors influencing its activity. FEMS Microbiology and Ecology 42:99-107.
DOE (U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY). 1994. Handbook of methods for the analysis of the various parameters of the carbon dioxide system in sea water; version 2, In A. G. Dickson and C. Goyet (eds.), U.S. Department of Energy ORNL/CDIAC-74. Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
EYRE, B. D. AND L. J. MCKEE. 2002. Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus budgets for a shallow subtropical coastal embayment (Moreton Bay, Australia). Limnology and Oceanography 47:1043-1055.
FRANKIGNOULLE, M., G. ABRIL, A. V. BORGES, I. BOURGE, C. CANON, B. DELILLE, E. LIBERT, AND J.-M. THÉATE. 1998. Carbon dioxide emission from European estuaries. Science 282:434-436.
FRANKIGNOULLE, M. AND A. V. BORGES. 2001. Direct and indirect pCO 2 measurements in a wide range of pCO2 and salinity values (the Scheldt estuary). Aquatic Geochemistry 7:267-273.
FRANKIGNOULLE, M., I. BOURGE, AND R. WOLLAST. 1996. Atmospheric CO 2 fluxes in a highly polluted estuary (the Scheldt). Limnology and Oceanography 41:365-369.
FROELICH, P. N. 1988. Kinetic control of dissolved phosphate in natural rivers and estuaries: A primer on the phosphate buffer mechanism. Limnology and Oceanography 33:649-668.
GATTUSO, J.-P., M. FRANKIGNOULLE, AND R. WOLLAST. 1998. Carbon and carbonate metabolism in coastal aquatic ecosystems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 29:405-434.
GAZEAU, F., A. V. BORGES, C. BARRÓN, C. M. DUARTE, N. IVERSEN, J. J. MIDDELBURG, B. DELILLE, M.-D. PIZAY, M. FRANKIGNOULLE, AND J.-P. GATTUSO. 2005. Net ecosystem metabolism in a micro-tidal estuary (Randers Fjord, Denmark): Evaluation of methods. Marine Ecology Progress Series 301:23-41.
GAZEAU, F., S. V. SMITH, B. GENTILI, M. FRANKIGNOULLE, AND J.-P. GATTUSO. 2004. The European coastal zone: Characterization and first assessment of ecosystem metabolism. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 60:673-694.
GOOSEN, N. K., P. VAN RIJSWIJK, AND U. BROCKMANN. 1995. Comparison of heterotrophic bacterial production rates in early spring in the turbid estuaries of the Scheldt and the Elbe. Hydrobiologia 311:31-42.
GORDON, D. C. J., P. R. BOUDREAU, K. H. MANN, J.-E. ONG, W. L. SILVERT, S. V. SMITH, G. WATTAYAKORN, F. WULFF, AND T. YANAGI. 1996. LOICZ biogeochemical modelling guidelines. LOICZ Reports and Studies 5:1-96.
GRANDE, K. D., J. MARRA, C. LANGDON, K. HEINEMANN, AND M. L. BENDER. 1989a. Rates of respiration in the light measured in marine phytoplankton using an 18O isotope-labeling technique. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 129:95-120.
GRANDE, K. D., L. P. J. WILLIAMS, J. MARRA, D. A. PURDIE, K. HEINEMANN, R. W. EPPLEY, AND M. L. BENDER. 1989b. Primary production in the North Pacific gyre: A comparison of rates determined by the 14C, O2 concentration and 18O method. Deepsea Research 36:1621-1634.
HEDGES, J. I., J. A. BALDOCK, Y. GÉLINAS, C. LEE, M. L. PETERSON, AND S. G. WAKEHAM. 2002. The biochemical and elemental compositions of marine plankton: An NMR perspective. Marine Chemistry 78:47-63.
HEIP, C. 1988. Biota and abiotic environment in the Westerschelde estuary. Hydrobiological Bulletin 22:31-34.
HEIP, C. 1989. The ecology of the estuaries of Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt in the Netherlands. In J. D. Ross (ed.), Topics in Marine Biology. Scientia Marina 53:457-463.
HEIP, C. H. R., N. K. GOOSEN, P. M. J. HERMAN, J. KROMKAMP, J. J. MIDDELBURG, K. SOETAERT, A. D. ANSELL, R. N. GIBSON, AND M. BARNES. 1995. Production and consumption of biological particles in temperate tidal estuaries. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review 33:1-149.
HELLINGS, L., F. DEHAIRS, M. TACKX, E. KEPPENS, AND W. BAEYENS. 2000. Origin and fate of inorganic carbon in interstitial waters of two freshwater intertidal areas: A case study of the Scheldt Estuary, Belgium. Biogeochemistry 51:141-160.
HELLINGS, L., F. DEHAIRS, S. VAN DAMME, AND W. BAEYENS. 2001. Dissolved inorganic carbon in a highly polluted estuary (the Scheldt). Limnology and Oceanography 46:1406-1414.
HOPKINSON, C. S. J. AND E. M. SMITH. 2005. Estuarine respiration: An overview of benthic, pelagic and whole system respiration, p. 123-147. In P. A. del Giorgio and L. P. J. Williams (eds.), Respiration in Aquatic Ecosystems. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.
HORRIGAN, S. G. AND A. L. SPRINGER. 1990. Oceanic and estuarine ammonium oxidation - Effects of light. Limnology and Oceanography 35:479-482.
HOWARTH, R. W., R. MARINO, R. GARRITT, AND D. SHERMAN. 1992. Ecosystem respiration and organic carbon processing in a large, tidally influenced river. Biogeochemistry 16:83-102.
KEMP, W. M. AND W. R. BOYNTON. 1980. Influence of biological and physical processes on dissolved oxygen dynamics in an estuarine system: Implications for measurement of community metabolism. Estuarine Coastal and Marine Science 11:407-431.
KEMP, W. M., E. M. SMITH, M.MARVIN-DIPASQUALE., AND W. R. BOYNTON. 1997. Organic carbon balance and net ecosystem metabolism in Chesapeake Bay. Marine Ecology Progress Series 150:229-248.
KNAP, A. H., A. E. MICHAELS, A. CLOSE, H. W. DUCKLOW, AND A. G. DICKSON. 1996. Protocols for the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) core measurements. JGOFS Report No 19. UNESCO, Bergen, Norway.
KREMER, J. N., S. W. NIXON, B. BUCKLEY, AND P. ROQUES. 2003a. Technical note: Conditions for using the floating chamber method to estimate air-water gas exchange. Estuaries 26:985-990.
KREMER, J. N., A. REISCHAUER, AND C. D'AVANZO. 2003b. Estuary-specific variation in the air-water gas exchange coefficient for oxygen. Estuaries 26:829-836.
KROMKAMP, J. AND J. PEENE. 1995. Possibility of net phytoplankton primary production in the turbid Schelde Estuary (SW Netherlands). Marine Ecology Progress Series 121:249-259.
LANGDON, C., W. S. BROECKER, D. E. HAMMOND, E. GLENN, K. FITZSIMMONS, N. G. NELSON, T.-H. PENG, I. HAJDAS, AND G. BONANI. 2003. Effect of elevated CO2 on the community metabolism of an experimental coral reef. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 17: Art. No. 1011.
LISS, P. S. AND L. MERLIVAT. 1986. Air-sea gas exchange rates: Introduction and synthesis, p. 113-127. In P. Buat-Menard (ed.), The Role of Air-sea Exchange in Geochemical Cycling. D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
MARTINEZ, R. 1992. Respiration and respiratory electron-transport activity in marine phytoplankton - Growth-rate dependence and light enhancement. Journal of Plankton Research 14:789-797.
MIDDELBURG, J. J., G. KLAVER, J. NIEUWENHUIZE, A. WIELEMAKER, W. DE HAAS, T. VLUG, AND J. W. A. VAN DER NAT. 1996. Organic matter mineralization in intertidal sediments along an estuarine gradient. Maine Ecology Progress Series 132:157-168.
MUYLAERT, K. 1999. Distribution and dynamics of protist communities in a freshwater tidal estuary. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Gent, Belgium.
MUYLAERT, K., K. SABBE, AND W. VYVERMAN. 2000. Spatial and temporal dynamics of phytoplankton communities in a freshwater tidal estuary (Schelde, Belgium). Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 50:673-687.
O'CONNOR, D. J. AND W. E. DOBBINS. 1958. Mechanism of reaeration in natural streams. Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineering 123:641-684.
ODUM, H. T. 1956. Primary production in flowing waters. Limnology and Oceanography 1:102-117.
OWENS, N. J. P. 1986. Estuarine nitrification: A naturally occurring fluidised bed reaction? Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 3:201-217.
PLATT, T., C. L. GALLEGOS, AND W. G. HARRISON. 1980. Photoinhibition of photosynthesis in natural assemblages of marine phytoplankton. Journal of Marine Research 38:687-701.
POMEROY, L. R. 1960. Primary productivity of Boca Ciega Bay, Florida. Bulletin of Marine Science Gulf and Caribbean 10:1-10.
RAYMOND, P. A. AND J. J. COLE. 2001. Gas exchange in rivers and estuaries: Choosing a gas transfer velocity. Estuaries 24:312-317.
REGNIER, P., R. WOLLAST, AND C. I. STEEFEL. 1997. Long-term fluxes of reactive species in macrotidal estuaries: Estimates from a fully transient, multicomponent reaction-transport model. Marine Chemistry 58:127-145.
RENDELL, A. R., T. M. HORROBIN, T. D. JICKELLS, H. M. EDMUNDS, J. BROWN, AND S. J. MALCOLM. 1997. Nutrient cycling in the Great Ouse estuary and its impact on nutrient fluxes to the Wash England. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 45:653-668.
RICHARDSON, H. B. 1929. The respiratory quotient. Physiological Review 9:61-125.
RUDEK, J. AND J. CLOERN. 1996. Plankton respiration rates in San Francisco Bay, p. 289-304. In J. Hollibaugh (ed.), San Francisco Bay: The Ecosystem. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Pacific Division, San Francisco, California.
SANDERS, R., T. D. JICKELLS, S. J. MALCOLM, J. BROWN, D. KIRKWOOD, AND A. REEVE. 1997. Nutrient fluxes through the Humber estuary. Journal of Sea Research 37:3-23.
SMITH, S. V. 2001. Carbon-nitrogen-phosphorus fluxes in the coastal zone: The LOICZ approach to global assessment, and scaling issues with available data. Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) Newsletter 21. Texel, The Netherlands.
SMITH, S. V. AND J. T. HOLLIBAUGH. 1993. Coastal metabolism and the oceanic organic carbon balance. Reviews of Geophysics 31:75-89.
SOETAERT, K. AND P. M. J. HERMAN. 1995a. Carbon flows in the Westerschelde estuary (The Netherlands) evaluated by means of an ecosystem model (MOSES). Hydrobiologia 311:247-266.
SOETAERT, K. AND P. M. J. HERMAN. 1995b. Estimating estuarine residence times in the Westerschelde (The Netherlands) using a box model with fixed dispersion coefficients. Hydrobiologia 311:215-224.
SOETAERT, K., J. J. MIDDELBURG, C. HEIP, P. MEIRE, S. VAN DAMME, AND T. MARIS. 2005. Long-term change in dissolved inorganic nutrients in the heterotrophic Scheldt estuary (Belgium, the Netherlands). Limnology and Oceanography in press.
VAN SPAENDONK, J. C. M., J. C. KROMKAMP, AND P. R. M. DE VISSCHER. 1993. Primary production of phytoplankton in a turbid coastal plain estuary, The Westerschelde (The Netherlands). Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 31:267-279.
VANDERBORGHT, J.-P., R. WOLLAST, M. LOIJENS, AND P. REGNIER. 2002. Application of a transport-reaction model to the estimation of the biogas fluxes in the Scheldt estuary. Biogeochemistry 59:207-237.
WANNINKHOF, R. 1992. Relationship between wind speed and gas exchange over the ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research 97:7373-7382.
WARD, B. B. 2005. Temporal variability in nitrification rates and related biogeochemical factors in Monterey Bay, CA, USA. Marine Ecology Progress Series 292:97-109.
WILLIAMS, P. J. L. AND P. A. DEL GIORGIO. 2005. Respiration in aquatic ecosystems: History and background, p. 1-17. In P. A. del Giorgio and L. P. J. Williams (eds.), Respiration in Aquatic Ecosystems. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.
WITEK, Z., S. OCHOCKI, J. NAKONIECZNY, B. PODGORSKA, AND A. DRGAS. 1999. Primary production and decomposition of organic matter in the epipelagic zone of the Gulf of Gdansk, an estuary of the Vistula. ICES Journal of Marine Science 56:3-14.
WOLLAST, R. 1988. The Scheldt estuary, p. 183-193. In W. Salomons, B. L. Bayne, E. K. Duursma, and U. Förstner (eds.), Pollution in the North Sea. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany.
WOLLAST, R., M. GARRELS, AND F. T. MACkENZIE. 1980. Calcite-seawater reactions in ocean surface water. American Journal of Science 280:831-848.
ZAPPA, C. J., P. A. RAYMOND, E. A. TERRAY, AND W. R. MCGILLIS. 2003. Variation in surface turbulence and the gas transfer velocity over a tidal cycle in a macro-tidal estuary. Estuaries 26:1401-1415.
ZWOLSMAN, J. J. G. 1994. Seasonal variability and biogeochemistry of phosphorus in the Scheldt estuary, south-west Netherlands. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 39:227-248.
