Biotic and abiotic controls on co-occurring nitrogen cycling processes in shallow Arctic shelf sediments.

The processes that convert bioavailable inorganic nitrogen to inert nitrogen gas are prominent in continental shelf sediments and represent a critical global sink, yet little is known of these pathways in the Arctic where 18% of the world's continental shelves are located. Moreover, few data from the Arctic exist that separate loss processes like denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) from recycling pathways like dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) or source pathways like nitrogen fixation. Here we present measurements of these co-occurring processes using 15N tracers. Denitrification was heterogeneous among stations and an order of magnitude greater than anammox and DNRA, while nitrogen fixation was undetectable. No abiotic factors correlated with interstation variability in biogeochemical rates; however, bioturbation potential explained most of the variation. Fauna-enhanced denitrification is a potentially important but overlooked process on Arctic shelves and highlights the role of the Arctic as a significant global nitrogen sink.

Three-dimensional structure of pinwheel inclusions as determined by analytic geometry.

The three-dimensional ultrastructure of pinwheel inclusions found in two plant virus-host systems was determined by computer-assisted analytic geometry. Data obtained from electron micrographs of serially sectioned pinwheel inclusions were used to generate mathematical equations. The three-dimensional models described by the equations indicated that some pinwheels assume the hourglass shapes of elliptic hyperboloids. Electron micrographs obtained from thick sections of pinwheel inclusions tilted at various angles supported the elliptic hyperboloid models described by the mathematical equations.

Simultaneous measurement of denitrification and nitrogen fixation using isotope pairing with membrane inlet mass spectrometry analysis.

A method for estimating denitrification and nitrogen fixation simultaneously in coastal sediments was developed. An isotope-pairing technique was applied to dissolved gas measurements with a membrane inlet mass spectrometer (MIMS). The relative fluxes of three N(2) gas species ((28)N(2), (29)N(2), and (30)N(2)) were monitored during incubation experiments after the addition of (15)NO(3)(-). Formulas were developed to estimate the production (denitrification) and consumption (N(2) fixation) of N(2) gas from the fluxes of the different isotopic forms of N(2). Proportions of the three isotopic forms produced from (15)NO(3)(-) and (14)NO(3)(-) agreed with expectations in a sediment slurry incubation experiment designed to optimize conditions for denitrification. Nitrogen fixation rates from an algal mat measured with intact sediment cores ranged from 32 to 390 microg-atoms of N m(-2) h(-1). They were enhanced by light and organic matter enrichment. In this environment of high nitrogen fixation, low N(2) production rates due to denitrification could be separated from high N(2) consumption rates due to nitrogen fixation. Denitrification and nitrogen fixation rates were estimated in April 2000 on sediments from a Texas sea grass bed (Laguna Madre). Denitrification rates (average, 20 microg-atoms of N m(-2) h(-1)) were lower than nitrogen fixation rates (average, 60 microg-atoms of N m(-2) h(-1)). The developed method benefits from simple and accurate dissolved-gas measurement by the MIMS system. By adding the N(2) isotope capability, it was possible to do isotope-pairing experiments with the MIMS system.

Estuarine microbial food web patterns in a Lake Erie coastal wetland.

Composition and distribution of planktonic protists were examined relative to microbial food web dynamics (growth, grazing, and nitrogen cycling rates) at the Old Woman Creek (OWC) National Estuarine Research Reserve during an episodic storm event in July 2003. More than 150 protistan taxa were identified based on morphology. Species richness and microbial biomass measured via microscopy and flow cytometry increased along a stream-lake (Lake Erie) transect and peaked at the confluence. Water column ammonium (NH4+) uptake (0.06 to 1.82 microM N h(-1)) and regeneration (0.04 to 0.55 microM N h(-1)) rates, measured using 15NH4+ isotope dilution, followed the same pattern. Large light/dark NH4+ uptake differences were observed in the hypereutrophic OWC interior, but not at the phosphorus-limited Lake Erie site, reflecting the microbial community structural shift from net autotrophic to net heterotrophic. Despite this shift, microbial grazers (mostly choreotrich ciliates, taxon-specific growth rates up to 2.9 d(-1)) controlled nanophytoplankton and bacteria at all sites by consuming 76 to 110% and 56 to 97% of their daily production, respectively, in dilution experiments. Overall, distribution patterns and dynamics of microbial communities in OWC resemble those in marine estuaries, where plankton productivity increases along the river-sea gradient and reaches its maximum at the confluence.

Relationship of dietary intake to concentration of dieldrin and endrin in dogs.

The method utilized in this investigation was simple, rapid, and quantitative for the measurement of dieldrin and endrin in the blood and tissues of dogs and mice and should be useful in the diagnosis of unknown toxicity syndromes in human beings. Levels of dieldrin in the blood were indicative of the concentrations of these agents in tissues and vital organs; however, there was no correlation between levels of endrin in blood and tissues other than fat.Feeding equal quantities of dieldrin and endrin resulted in approximately equal concentrations in blood after 48 hours. Thereafter, dieldrin accumulated rapidly as feeding was continued, whereas endrin did not. These data indicate different modes in the metabolism of these stereoisomers in dogs.