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Implications of water column ammonium uptake and regeneration for the nitrogen budget in temperate, eutrophic Missisquoi Bay, Lake Champlain (Canada/USA)

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Abstract

Assessing ammonium (NH4 +) availability in aquatic systems requires accurate concentration and turnover rate data. Water column NH4 + regeneration, potential NH4 + uptake, and nitrogen (N) fixation rates were measured in Missisquoi Bay, Lake Champlain, to help constrain internal N dynamics affecting phytoplankton community structure and cyanobacteria (Cy) blooms. Cyanobacteria dominated phytoplankton biomass during occasional summer bloom periods, but low or undetectable N2 fixation rates and low heterocyte abundances suggested that N fixing cyanobacteria did not rely on atmospheric N2. Light/dark incubations revealed that photosynthetic and dark NH4 + uptake generally were balanced, highlighting the importance of bacterial uptake. Our results suggest that phytoplankton were not controlled by nutrients from the “bottom-up”; rather, water column N dynamics responded to phytoplankton patterns. Basin-scale water column NH4 + regeneration rates were about 700,000 mol N day−1 (9.8 t N day−1), which is almost twice the estimated N load from tributaries, and suggests a primary role for water column N regeneration in supporting primary production. Comparisons of basin-scale NH4 + regeneration and demand imply that primary production is not sustained fully by combined water column regeneration and tributary N inputs; thus, future research should constrain additional sources and sinks affecting N balance in this and other aquatic systems.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to DFB, Fonds de recherche du Québec—Nature et technologies (FQRNT) to DFB and MFL, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (Grant # NA07NOS4780225) to WSG, and FQRNT via a Bourse d’excellence pour étudiants étrangers (scholarship for foreign students) to MJM. We thank Alexandre Guindon for assistance in the field and lab. Irina Moukhina and Serge Paquet performed the phytoplankton counts, and Jennifer Boisvert, Martine Camiré, Guillaume Cloutier, Catalina Gonzalez-Rueda, Pierre Marcoux, Dr. Alexandrine Pannard, Isabelle Roby, Genevieve Thibodeau, and Gabriela von Rückert Heleno assisted at various stages of this project. Catherine Beauchemin and Alice Parkes analyzed nutrient samples (except NH4 +) and assisted with field work logistics. Veronique Ducharme-Riel, Lisa Fauteux, François Guillemette, and Paul del Giorgio assisted with the membrane inlet mass spectrometer. Dr. Silvia E. Newell provided comments on earlier versions of the manuscript.

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  1. Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, CP 8888, Succarsale Centre-ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Mark J. McCarthy & David F. Bird

  2. Marine Science Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, 750 Channel View Drive, Port Aransas, TX, 78373, USA

    Mark J. McCarthy & Wayne S. Gardner

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Bernoullistrasse 30, 4056, Basel, Switzerland

    Moritz F. Lehmann

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Correspondence to Mark J. McCarthy.

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McCarthy, M.J., Gardner, W.S., Lehmann, M.F. et al. Implications of water column ammonium uptake and regeneration for the nitrogen budget in temperate, eutrophic Missisquoi Bay, Lake Champlain (Canada/USA). Hydrobiologia 718, 173–188 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1614-6

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