OMZs of the Eastern Tropical North and South
Pacific, denitrification appeared to be limited by
organic carbon (Ward et al. 2008). In the Indian
Ocean region, denitrification in the Arabian Sea
has also been shown to be dependent on the
organic carbon regime (Anderson et al. 2007).
So far, there have been no reports on the factors
limiting denitrification from nearby estuarine
zones.
In the present study, we examined the shortterm
effect of nitrate and organic carbon addition
on denitrification activity in mangrove sediments
prone to nutrient input from anthropogenic activities.
We hypothesize that in organically rich mangrove
sediments, denitrification could be more
dependent on nitrate availability. The significant
increase in denitrification activity on nitrate
amendments observed in the present study further
corroborates our hypothesis suggesting that nitrate
is the main limiting factor for denitrification
in mangrove sediments.
Materials and methods
Study area and sampling
Investigations were carried out at fringing mangrove
forest located at Divar in Goa, west coast of
India (Fig. 1) during January 2008 (post-monsoon