Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The control of nitrate and ammonium concentrations in a coral reef lagoon

  • Published:
Coral Reefs Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

One Tree Reef lagoon is surrounded by an emergent rim which restricts exchange between lagoonal waters and the surrounding ocean. For this reason, the loss rate of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) through mixing processes is slow in the central lagoon compared to rates of advective input, uptake, regeneration and loss to the atmosphere. We present some hypotheses concerning the importance of these fluxes to the observed patterns of concentration of nitrate+nitrite and ammonium. A scaling analysis of these fluxes indicates that the relative influence of advection across the windward reef crest on lagoonal concentrations changes with season and differs for the two forms of DIN. Advective flux, dominated by DIN derived from production on the algal pavements of the reef crest, is significant in controlling DIN concentration in the peripheral regions of the lagoon. Loss to the atmosphere is a more important flux from the nitrate+nitrite pool in the centre of the lagoon, particularly in summer. Regeneration is a significant input to the ammonium pool of the central lagoon in winter. The relative magnitudes of all fluxes are more similar to each other in the summer than the winter, indicating the potential for shifts in the dominance hierarchy at small time and space scales. One form of DIN in One Tree Reef lagoonal waters (nitrate+nitrite) is controlled by input and another (ammonium) by recycling as well as input. The relative importance of these fluxes changes as a result of temperature pertubations at the physiological level as well as the rate of water turnover at the “system” level. It is proposed that the degree of consistency of the seasonal concentration patterns is a function of the period, rather than the amplitude of the temporal oscillations in the fluxes controlling these concentrations. This has important implications for sampling strategies. This paper provides a conceptual framework for hypothesis testing at a manageable scale, in the context of ecosystem function.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andrews JC, Gentian P (1982) Upwelling as a source of nutrients for the Great Barrier Reef ecosystems: a solution to Darwin's question? Mar Ecol Progr Ser 8:257–269

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews JC, Muller H (1983) Space-time variability of nutrients in a lagoonal patch reef. Limnol Oceanogr 28:215–227

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson M, Smith SV, Stroup ED (1981) Circulation in Enewetak Atoll lagoon. Limnol Oceanogr 26:1074–1083

    Google Scholar 

  • Belser LW (1979) Population ecology of nitrifying bacteria. Annu Rev Microbiol 33:309–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Burris RH (1976) Nitrogen fixation by blue-green algae of the Lizard Island area of the Great Barrier Reef. Aust J Plant Physiol 3:41–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Crossland CJ (1983) Dissolved nutrients in coral reef waters. In: Barnes D (ed) Perspectives on coral reefs B. Clouston, Manuka (A.C.T.) for AIMS, p 56–65

  • Crossland CJ, Hatcher BG, Atkinson MJ, Smith SV (1984) Dissolved nutrients of a high-latitude coral reef. Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western australia. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 14:159–163

    Google Scholar 

  • DiSalvo LH (1974) Soluble phosphorous and amino nitrogen released to seawater during recoveries of coral reef regenerative sediments. Proc 2nd Int Coral Reef Symp 1:11–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Entsch B, Boto KG, Sim RG, Wellington JT (1983) Phosphorus and nitrogen in coral reef sediments. Limnol Oceanogr 28:465–476

    Google Scholar 

  • Frith CA (1981) Circulation in a platform reef lagoon, One Tree Reef, Southern Great Barrier Reef. Proc 4th Int Coral Reef Symp 1:347–354

    Google Scholar 

  • Frith CA (nee Ludington) (1983a) Lagoon circulation at One Tree Reef, Great Barrier Reef. PhD thesis, The University of Sydney, 270 pp

  • Frith CA (1983b) Some aspects of lagoon sedimentation and circulation at One Tree Reef, Southern Great Barrier Reef. BMR J Aust Geol Geophys 8:211–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldner LL (1980) Nitrogen fixation (acetylene reduction) in shallow water Bahamian environments. Bull Mar Sci 30:444–453

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison JT III (1983) Metabolism of interreef sediment communities. In: Reaka M (ed) The ecology of deep and shallow reefs. NOAA's Symp Ser Undersea Res 1:145–149

  • Hatcher AI (1985) The relationship between coral reef structure and nitrogen dynamics. Proc 5th Int Coral Reef Symp (in press)

  • Hatcher AI, Hatcher BG (1981) Seasonal and spatial variation in dissolved inorganic nitrogen in One Tree Reef lagoon. Proc 4th Int Coral Reef Symp 1:419–424

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatcher BG, Larkum AWD (1983) An experimental analysis of factors controlling the standing crop of the epilithic algal community on a coral reef. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 69:61–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Imberger J, Berman T, Christian RR, Sherr EB, Whitney DE, Pomeroy LR, Wiegert RG, Wiebe WJ (1983) The influence of water motion on the distribution and transport of materials in a salt marsh estuary. Limnol Oceanogr 28:201–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Johannes RE, Alberts J, D'Elia C, Kinzie RA, Pomeroy LR, Sottile W, Wiebe W, Marsh JA Jr, Helfrich P, Maragos J, Meyer J, Smith S, Crabtree D, Roth A, McCloskey LR, Betzer S, Marshall N, Pilson MEQ, Telek G, Clutters RI, DuPaul WD, Webb KL, Wells JM Jr (1972) The metabolism of some coral reef communities: a team study of nutrient and energy flux at Eniwetok. Bioscience 22:541–543

    Google Scholar 

  • Johannes RE, Wiebe WJ, Crossland CJ (1983) Three patterns of nutrient flux in a coral reef community. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 12:131–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinsey DW, Davies PJ (1979) Carbon turnover, calcification and growth in coral reefs. Chap 2.5 in: Trudinger PA, Swaine DJ (eds) Biogeochemical cycling of mineral forming elements (Studies in environmental science III). Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 131–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinsey DW, Domm A (1974) Effects of fertilization on a coral reef environment —primary production studies. Proc 2nd Int Coral Reef Symp 1:49–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Limer 1975 Expedition Team (1976) Metabolic processes in coral reef communities at Lizard Island, Queensland. Search 7:463–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludington CA (1981) A study of flushing and exchange in reef lagoons using fluorescent dye. The Inst Engrs Aust Nat Conf Publ No 81/6, Conf on Env Eng, Townsville, July 1981, pp 102–106

  • Marsh JA (1977) Terrestrial inputs of nitrogen and phosphorous on fringing reefs of Guam. Proc III Int Coral Reef Symp 1:331–336

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy JJ, Kaplan W, Nevins JL (1984) Chesapeake Bay nutrient and plankton dynamics 2. Sources and sinks of nitrite. Limnol Oceanogr 29:84–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Odum HT, Odum EP (1955) Trophic structure and productivity of a windward coral reef community on Eniewetak Atoll. Ecol Monogr 25:291–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Painter HA (1970) A review of the literature on inorganic nitrogen metabolism in microorganisms. Water Res 4:393–450

    Google Scholar 

  • Pankhurst RC (1964) Dimensional analysis and scale factors. Chapman & Hall, London, 151 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith SV (1984) Phosphorus versus nitrogen limitation in the marine environment. Limnol Oceanogr 29:1149–1160

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith SV, Brock RE, Kimmerer WJ, Jaws EA, Walsh TW (1981) Kaneohe Bay sewage diversion experiment: perspectives on ecosystem responses to nutritional pertubation. Pac Sci 34:279–395

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith SV, Chandra S, Kwitko L, Schneider R, Schoonmaker J, Seeto J, Tebano T, Tribble G (1983) Chemical stoichiometry of lagoonal metabolism: preliminary report on an environmental chemistry survey of Christmas Island, Kiribati. U Hawaii/U South Pacific Internat Sea Grant Progr UNIHI-SEAGRANT-CR-84-01, 30pp

  • Smith SV, Jokeil PL (1978) Water composition and biogeochemical gradients in the Canton Atoll lagoon. Atoll Res Bull 221:15–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Strickland JDH, Parsons TR (1972) A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Bull 167 of the Fish Res Bd of Canada, 310 pp

  • Szmant-Froelich A (1983) Functional aspects of nutrient cycling on coral reefs. In: Reaka M (ed) The ecology of deep and shallow reefs. NOAA's Symp Ser Undersea Res 1:133–139

  • VonArx WS (1954) Circulation systems of Bikini and Rongelap lagoons. US Geological Survey Prof Paper No 260-B:265–270

  • Webb KL (1981) Conceptual models and processes of nutrient cycling in estuaries. In: Neilson BJ, Cronin LE (eds) Estuaries and nutrients. Humana Press, New Jersey, pp 25–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb KL, DuPaul WD, Wiebe WJ, Sottile W, Johannes RE (1975) Enewetak (Eniwetok) Atoll: aspects of nitrogen cycle on a coral reef. Limnol Oceanogr 20:198–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb KL, Wiebe WJ (1975) Nitrification on a coral reef. Can J Microbial 21:1427–1431

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe WJ (1976) Nitrogen cycle on a coral reef. Micronesia 12:23–26

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Carol A. Frith

    Present address: Curate's Cottage, Market St., 2500, Woolongong, N.S.W., Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biological Laboratories, The University of Western Australia, P.O. Box 20, 6020, North Beach, W.A., Australia

    Annamarie I. Hatcher

  2. Coastal Studies Unit, Department of Geography, The University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia

    Carol A. Frith

Authors
  1. Annamarie I. Hatcher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carol A. Frith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hatcher, A.I., Frith, C.A. The control of nitrate and ammonium concentrations in a coral reef lagoon. Coral Reefs 4, 101–110 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00300868

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00300868

Keywords

Search

Navigation