Search results for "BIOGEOCHEMICAL"

Efficient recycling of nutrients in modern and past hypersaline environments

2019

The biogeochemistry of hypersaline environments is strongly influenced by changes in biological processes and physicochemical parameters. Although massive evaporation events have occurred repeatedly throughout Earth history, their biogeochemical cycles and global impact remain poorly understood. Here, we provide the first nitrogen isotopic data for nutrients and chloropigments from modern shallow hypersaline environments (solar salterns, Trapani, Italy) and apply the obtained insights to ¿ 15 N signatures of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) in the late Miocene. Concentrations and ¿ 15 N of chlorophyll a, bacteriochlorophyll a, nitrate, and ammonium in benthic microbial mats indicate that…

NaCl-saturated brines are thermodynamically moderate, rather than extreme, microbial habitats

2018

NaCl-saturated brines such as saltern crystalliser ponds, inland salt lakes, deep-sea brines and liquids-of-deliquescence on halite are commonly regarded as a paradigm for the limit of life on Earth. There are, however, other habitats that are thermodynamically more extreme. Typically, NaCl-saturated environments contain all domains of life and perform complete biogeochemical cycling. Despite their reduced water activity, ∼0.755 at 5 M NaCl, some halophiles belonging to the Archaea and Bacteria exhibit optimum growth/metabolism in these brines. Furthermore, the recognised water-activity limit for microbial function, ∼0.585 for some strains of fungi, lies far below 0.755. Other biophysical c…

Resistant ammonia-oxidizing archaea endure, but adapting ammonia-oxidizing bacteria thrive in boreal lake sediments receiving nutrient-rich effluents

2018

Climate change along with anthropogenic activities changes biogeochemical conditions in lake ecosystems, modifying the sediment microbial communities. Wastewater effluents introduce nutrients and organic material but also novel microbes to lake ecosystems, simulating forthcoming increases in catchment loadings. In this work, we first used 16s rRNA gene sequencing to study how the overall sediment microbial community responds to wastewater in six boreal lakes. To examine forthcoming changes in the lake biogeochemistry, we focused on the ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB), and examined their functional and compositional community response to wastewater. Although we found the l…

Photoferrotrophy: Remains of an Ancient Photosynthesis in Modern Environments

2017

Photoferrotrophy, the process by which inorganic carbon is fixed into organic matter using light as an energy source and reduced iron [Fe(II)] as an electron donor, has been proposed as one of the oldest photoautotrophic metabolisms on Earth. Under the iron-rich (ferruginous) but sulfide poor conditions dominating the Archean ocean, this type of metabolism could have accounted for most of the primary production in the photic zone. Here we review the current knowledge of biogeochemical, microbial and phylogenetic aspects of photoferrotrophy, and evaluate the ecological significance of this process in ancient and modern environments. From the ferruginous conditions that prevailed during most …

Influence of land-use intensity on the spatial distribution of N-cycling microorganisms in grassland soils

2011

A geostatistical approach using replicated grassland sites (10 m × 10 m) was applied to investigate the influence of grassland management, i.e. unfertilized pastures and fertilized mown meadows representing low and high land-use intensity (LUI), on soil biogeochemical properties and spatial distributions of ammonia-oxidizing and denitrifying microorganisms in soil. Spatial autocorrelations of the different N-cycling communities ranged between 1.4 and 7.6 m for ammonia oxidizers and from 0.3 m for nosZ-type denitrifiers to scales >14 m for nirK-type denitrifiers. The spatial heterogeneity of ammonia oxidizers and nirS-type denitrifiers increased in high LUI, but decreased for biogeochemical …

Biogeochemical characterization of soils affected by more than 100 years of lead mining activity.

2020

<p>Mining has an adverse effect on soil quality as it is a source of heavy metal environmental pollution with direct consequences on its ecosystem services, especially those related to microbial activity. The magnitude and diversity of the impact produced by pollution is linked to the complexity and diversity of mining processes that share the same mining area. The soil will be modified, not only in the physicochemical characteristics but also physical alterations of varied typology will occur. All these changes and alterations related to mining activity are accompanied by changes in the composition, diversity and activity of soil microorganisms..<br>A study was…

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of soils and grasses as indicators of soil characteristics and biological taxa

2019

Abstract The use of stable isotope techniques can assist in understanding interactions of plants with various abiotic and biotic processes. In the research, we focused on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotopes because they are the most important resources influencing plant function and the biogeochemical cycles. The 13C/12C and 15N/14N ratios in plants and in soils and the relationships between these ratios and biological and environmental factors of widely distributed native C3 plants (couch grass, plantain and yarrow) collected from two sites in St. Petersburg, Russia were studied. The soil characteristics of the sites were rather different. This had a significant effect on the isotope rati…

Sulfur isotope's signal of nanopyrites enclosed in 2.7 Ga stromatolitic organic remains reveal microbial sulfate reduction.

2018

18 pages; International audience; Microbial sulfate reduction (MSR) is thought to have operated very early on Earth and is often invoked to explain the occurrence of sedimentary sulfides in the rock record. Sedimentary sulfides can also form from sulfides produced abiotically during late diagenesis or metamorphism. As both biotic and abiotic processes contribute to the bulk of sedimentary sulfides, tracing back the original microbial signature from the earliest Earth record is challenging. We present in situ sulfur isotope data from nanopyrites occurring in carbonaceous remains lining the domical shape of stromatolite knobs of the 2.7-Gyr-old Tumbiana Formation (Western Australia). The anal…

Biogeochemical Cycling of Nitrogen on the Early Earth

2013

Variations in the nitrogen isotope composition of ancient organic matter and associated sediments provide clues for the early evolution of Earth's atmosphere–ocean–biosphere system. In particular, large isotopic variations have been linked to the protracted oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere during the Precambrian. Important problems being investigated include the nature of the variations observed at specific times in Earth's history and the degree of preservation of ancient nitrogen biogeochemical signatures during diagenesis and metamorphism. Interpreting these records in Archean sedimentary environments and their possible implications for the evolution of Earth's early atmosphere, ocean, …

2015

Abstract. The Amazon Basin plays key roles in the carbon and water cycles, climate change, atmospheric chemistry, and biodiversity. It has already been changed significantly by human activities, and more pervasive change is expected to occur in the coming decades. It is therefore essential to establish long-term measurement sites that provide a baseline record of present-day climatic, biogeochemical, and atmospheric conditions and that will be operated over coming decades to monitor change in the Amazon region, as human perturbations increase in the future. The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) has been set up in a pristine rain forest region in the central Amazon Basin, about 150 km nor…