- Title
- Evidence of spatial and temporal changes in sources of organic matter in estuarine sediments
- Creator
- Bergamino, Leandro
- Creator
- Dalu, Tatenda
- Creator
- Richoux, Nicole B
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date Issued
- 2014
- Date
- 2014
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/457242
- Identifier
- vital:75619
- Identifier
- xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-1853-1"
- Description
- We investigated spatial and temporal changes in sources of organic matter in sediments within an estuarine environment in South Africa using fatty acids (FA) and stable isotopes (SI). Samples of sediments and sources of organic matter [i.e., particulate organic matter, microphytobenthos (MPB), macrophytes, salt marsh plants, and terrestrial leaves] were collected during spring and summer 2012, and autumn and winter 2013 from the upper, middle, and lower reaches. A Stable Isotope Analysis in R (SIAR) mixing model was used to identify the organic matter sources contributing to sediments in each estuarine reach and season. We found that diatom-associated fatty acids (20:5ω3; 16:1ω7) increased toward the upper reaches, while long-chained terrigenous fatty acids (24:0) tended to be more prevalent in lower reach sediments. In support of the FA results, the SI mixing model showed a substantial contribution from the marsh grass Spartina maritima in sediments of the lower estuary during periods of low-freshwater discharge (autumn and winter), while MPB was the main component in sediments from the upper and middle reaches during all seasons. Our results have implications for evaluating estuarine food webs since the spatial and seasonal variability in the organic matter deposited can influence estuarine community structure.
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (13 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- SpringerLink
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Hydrobiologia
- Relation
- Bergamino, L., Dalu, T. and Richoux, N.B., 2014. Evidence of spatial and temporal changes in sources of organic matter in estuarine sediments: stable isotope and fatty acid analyses. Hydrobiologia, 732, pp.133-145
- Relation
- Hydrobiologia volume 732 p. 133 2014 1573-5117
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the SpringerLink Terms of Use Statement ( https://link.springer.com/termsandconditions)
- Rights
- Closed Access
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Collections
Richoux, Nicole Bertine (Assoc Prof)
SDG 15. Life On Land
RU Department of Zoology and Entomology
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Evidence of spatial and temporal changes in sources of organic matter in estuarine sediments.pdf | 675 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |