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NITROGEN FIXATION RY BACTERIA IN LAKE MIZE, FLORIDA, AND IN SOME LACUSTRINE SEDIMENTS 1
Author(s) -
Keirn Michael A.,
Brezonik Patrick L.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1971.16.5.0720
Subject(s) - nitrogen fixation , hypolimnion , anoxic waters , heterotroph , environmental chemistry , nitrogen , chemocline , water column , nutrient , environmental science , chemistry , botany , ecology , biology , eutrophication , bacteria , genetics , organic chemistry
Nitrogen fixation was measured in the water column of Lake Mize, Florida, a highly colored, small, deep lake, and in a variety of lacustrine sediments, by the acetylene reduction technique. A consistent seasonal and vertical pattern of fixation occurs in Lake Mize with positive rates noted only for a relatively short period during summer stratification and only in the anoxic hypolimnion. Maximum rates (up to an equivalent of 3.26 µ g N/liter‐hr) were at depths of 5–10 m ( D max = 25 m) and three bacterial cultures capable of fixing nitrogen were isolated from the waters: a heterotroph characteristic of the genus Clostridium and the purple sulfur bacteria Thiospirillum and Chromatium. Available evidence suggests that fixation is primarily heterotrophic. Acetylene reduction was detected in sediments of 7 out of 25 Florida lakes and in sediments from 3 Guatemala lakes. Rates decreased with depth in 30–50‐cm cores. High concentrations of sucrose stimulated acetylene reduction in lake sediment, but glucose, acetate, butyrate, and pyruvate did not. These results indicate that bacterial fixation in aquatic environments is more widespread and significant than previously thought.