Heterotrophic bacterial activity in Roskilde Fjord sediment during an autumn sedimentation peak

Abstract

Total oxygen uptake, bacterial oxygen uptake, total bacterial biomass and active bacterial biomass were determined at the sediment-water interface at two stations in the brackish Roskilde Fjord between September and December in 1986 before, during and after sedimentation of a phytoplankton bloom. Bacterial oxygen consumption was separated from total oxygen consumption by addition of cycloheximide. The fractional and the absolute bacterial oxygen uptake were greatest at the most eutrophic station, where total oxygen uptake was 870–1740 mg O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹ and the bacterial oxygen uptake was 232–870 mg O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹. At the less eutrophic station, total oxygen uptake was 725–1740 mg O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹. and bacterial oxygen uptake was 200–550 mg O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹.

Active bacterial biomass was separated from total bacterial biomass by addition of the terminal electron acceptor INT-formazan. The active bacterial biomass was 70–120 µg C mg⁻¹ ww of sediment at the most eutrophic station and 50–90 µg C g⁻¹ ww of sediment at the other station. Differences in capacity of bacterial oxygen uptake between the two stations correlated to the active bacterial biomass. The non-temperature dependent bacterial oxygen uptake correlated with the sedimentation rate.