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MICROBIAL ACTIVITY: AN INDICATOR OF WATERSHED IMPACTRS ON RIVERINE COASTAL WETLANDS OF LAKE MICHIGAN
Citation:
Jicha, T. M., C M. Elonen, L E. Anderson, AND N E. Detenbeck. MICROBIAL ACTIVITY: AN INDICATOR OF WATERSHED IMPACTRS ON RIVERINE COASTAL WETLANDS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. Presented at Society of Wetland Scientists Meeting, Lake Placid, NY, June 2-7, 2002.
Description:
The loss of watershed storage and/or forest cover due to land use, is expected to increase nutrient levels and sedimentation in the riverine coastal wetlands. Watershed indicators should be able to distinguish between degradation gradients, separating reference, transitional, and degraded systems. Ideally, indicators for nutrient criteria should also signal change in the system prior to evidence of impairment at the level of plant, insect, or fish populations and communities. Water quality parameters were expected to be inadequate due to spatial and temporal variability of these wetlands, therefore other approaches may be needed to assess these systems. We examined microbial activity as one measure of nutrient impact as a result of land use. Increased nutrient input acts to increase nutrient accumulation in living vegetation, accelerating nutrient release from decaying vegetation, and triggering B-glucosidase enzyme activity. As nutrients are released to the sediments wer could expect increased microbial biomass and potentially mineralizable N and P. Depending on these N-P rations, phosphatase enzyme activity increases or denitrification enzyme activity (DEA) decreases could indicate phosphorus or nitrate limitation respectfully. This is an abstract or a proposed presentation and does not necessarily reflect EPA policy. Mention of trade names or commerical products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.