Abstract
In spring bacterial production rates were estimated by tritiated thymidine incorporation in the turbid estuaries of the rivers Scheldt and Elbe. Bacterial production rates in the Scheldt were 5 times higher than in the Elbe. In the Scheldt bacterial production rates correlated better with the DOC concentration than in the Elbe. Organic matter concentrations in the marine part of the estuaries were the same while in the brackish part concentrations in the Scheldt were much more higher. In the Scheldt, but not in the Elbe, oxygen depletion occurred in the maximum turbidity zone caused by bacterial growth and respiration. The water in the Scheldt was well-mixed while in the turbidity maximum of the Elbe salinity and bacterial production was higher near the bottom than at the surface. Nutrient concentrations in the Scheldt were higher than in the Elbe. Bacterial production rate values in the Scheldt are among the highest reported in the literature. The relatively high bacterial production rates in both estuaries are caused by a high load of waste water. Comparison of bacterial growth rates and water residence time suggests an intensive grazing by probably protozoa. Production rates showed a tidal dynamic. In the Elbe high current velocities caused resuspension of sediment and increased bacterial production rates near the bottom. The high production rates in the turbidity maximum and freshwater part of both estuaries show that a large amount of organic matter is degraded in this region.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Admiraal, W., J. Beukema & F. B. van Es, 1985. Seasonal fluctuations in the biomass and metabolic activity of bacterioplankton and phytoplankton in a well-mixed estuary: the Ems-Dollard (Wadden Sea). J. Plankton Res. 7: 877–890.
ARGE Elbe, 1984. Gewässeroekologische studie der Elbe. Hamburg, 98 pp.
Billen, G., P. Servais & S. Becquevort, 1990. Dynamics of bacterioplankton in oligotrophic and eutrophic aquatic environments: Bottom-up or top-down control? Hydrobiologia 207: 37–42.
Billen, G., P. Servais & A. Fontigny, 1988. Growth and mortality in bacterial population dynamics of aquatic ecosystems. Arch. Hydrobiol. Beih. 31: 173–183.
Billen, G., C. Lancelot, E. De Becker & P. Servais, 1986. The terrestrial interface: Modelling nitrogen transformations during its transfer through the Schelde river system and its estuarine zone. In J. C. J. Nihoul (ed.), Marine Interfaces Ecohydrodynamics. Elsevier Oceanography series, 42: 429–452.
Billen, G., M. Somville, E. De Becker & P. Servais, 1985. A nitrogen budget of the Scheldt hydrographical basin. Neth. J. Sea Res. 19: 223–230.
Caspers, H., 1981. Seasonal effects on the nitrogen cycle in the freshwater section of the Elbe estuary. Verh. int. Ver. Limnol. 21: 866–870.
Coffin, R. B. & J. H. Sharp, 1987. Microbial trophodynamics in the Delaware estuary. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 41: 253–266.
De Jonge, V. N., 1992. Physical processes and dynamics of microphytobenthos in the Ems estuary (The Netherlands). Thesis, University of Groningen, 176 pp.
Ducklow, H. W., 1993. Bacterioplankton distributions and production in the northwestern Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman, September 1986. Deep-Sea Res. II 40: 753–771.
Ducklow, H. W. & C. A. Carlson, 1992. Oceanic bacterial production. In K. C. Marshall (ed.), Advances in Microbial Ecology. Vol. 12. Plenum Press, New York-London: 113–181.
Ducklow, H. W. & F.-K. Shiah, 1993. Bacterial production in estuaries. In T. E. Ford (ed.), Aquatic Microbiology, an ecological approach. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Boston: 261–287.
Duwe, K. C., 1990. Hydrography and numerical modelling of Elbe and Shannon estuaries. In H. Kausch, J. G. Wilson & H. Barth (eds), Biogeochemical cycles in two major european estuaries: The ShanElbe Project. Water Pollution Res. Rep. 15, CEC Environment and Waste Recycling, Brussels: 9–23.
Ellenbroek, F. M. & T. E. Cappenberg, 1991. DNA synthesis and tritiated thymidine incorporation by heterotrophic freshwater bacteria in continuous culture. Appl. envir. Microbiol. 57: 1675–1682.
Fuhrman, J. A. & F. Azam, 1982. Thymidine incorporation as a measure of heterotrophic bacterioplankton production in marine surface waters: evaluation and field results. Mar. Biol. 66: 109–120.
Gocke, K. & G. Rheinheimer, 1988. Microbial investigations in rivers VII. Seasonal variation of bacterial numbers and activity in eutrophied rivers of northern Germany. Arch. Hydrobiol. 112: 197–219.
Heip, C., 1989. The ecology of the estuaries of Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt in the Netherlands. In J. D. Ros (ed.), Topics in marine biology. Scient. Mar. 53: 457–463.
Kerner, M., 1990. Seasonal variation in the structure of the microbial community capable of nitrate respiration in an intertidal mud flat sediment of the Elbe estuary. Arch. Hydrobiol. (Suppl.) 75: 273–280.
Kuosa, H. & K. Kivi, 1989. Bacteria and heterotrophic flagellates in the pelagic carbon cycle in the northern Baltic Sea. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 53: 93–100.
Laanbroek, H. J. & J. C. Verplanke, 1986a. Tidal variations in bacterial biomass, productivity and oxygen uptake rates in a shallow channel in the Oosterschelde basin, The Netherlands. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 29: 1–5.
Laanbroek, H. J. & J. C. Verplanke, 1986b. Seasonal changes in percentages of attached bacteria enumerated in a tidal and a stagnant coastal basin: relation to bacterioplankton productivity. FEMS Microb. Ecol. 38: 87–98.
Laanbroek, H. J., J. C. Verplanke, P. R. M. de Visscher & R. de Vuyst, 1985. Distribution of phyto- and bacterioplankton growth and biomass parameters, dissolved inorganic nutrients and free amino acids during a spring bloom in the Oosterschelde basin, The Netherlands. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 25: 1–11.
Nieuwenhuize, J., Y. E. M. Maas & J. J. Middelburg, 1994. Rapid analysis of organic carbon and nitrogen in particulate materials. Mar. Chem. 45: 217–224.
Painchaud, J. & J. C. Therriault, 1989. Relationship between bacteria, phytoplankton and particulate organic carbon in the upper St. Lawrence estuary. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 56: 301–311.
Porter, K. G. & Y. S. Feig, 1980. The use of DAPI for identifying and counting aquatic microflora. Limnol. Oceanogr. 25: 943–948.
Relexans, J. C., M. Meybeck, G. Billen, M. Brugeaille, H. Etcheber & M. Somville, 1988. Algal and microbial processes involved in particulate organic matter dynamics in the Loire estuary. Estuar. coast. shelf Sci. 27: 625–644.
Rheinheimer, G., 1959. Mikrobiologische untersuchungen über den stickstoffhaushalt der Elbe. Arch. Mikrobiol. 34: 358–373.
Rheinheimer, G., 1960. Der jahresrythmus der bacterienkeimzahl in der Elbe zwischen Schnackeburg und Hamburg. Arch. Mikrobiol. 35: 34–43.
Riemann, B. & R. T. Bell, 1990. Advances in estimating bacterial biomass and growth in aquatic systems. Arch. Hydrobiol. 25: 385–402.
Servais, P. & J. Garnier, 1993. Contribution of heterotrophic bacterial production to the budget of the river Seine (France). Microb. Ecol. 25: 19–33.
Sherr, E. B. & B. F. Sherr, 1987. High rates of consumption of bacteria by pelagic ciliates. Nature 325: 710–711.
Somville, M., G. Billen & J. Smitz, 1982. An ecophysiological model of nitrification in the Scheldt estuary. Math. Model. 3: 523–533.
Vaqué, D., M. L. Pace, S. Findlay & D. Lints, 1992. Fate of bacterial production in a heterotrophic ecosystem: grazing by protists and metazoans in the Hudson estuary. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 89: 155–163.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Goosen, N.K., van Rijswijk, P. & Brockmann, U. Comparison of heterotrophic bacterial production rates in early spring in the turbid estuaries of the Scheldt and the Elbe. Hydrobiologia 311, 31–42 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008569
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008569