MEPS 288:103-114 (2005)  -  doi:10.3354/meps288103

ABSTRACT: Macroalgal epiphytes within seagrass meadows make a significant contribution to total primary production by assimilating water column N and transferring organic N to sediments. Assimilation of NO₃^– requires nitrate reductase (NR, EC 1.6.6.1); NR activity represents the capacity for NO₃^– assimilation. An optimised in vitro assay for determining NR activity in algal extracts was applied to a wide range of macroalgae and detected NR activity in all 22 species tested with activity 2 to 290 nmolNO₃^– min^–1 g^–1 frozen thallus. With liquid-N₂ freezing immediately after sample collection, this method was practical for estimating NR activity in field samples. Vertical distribution of NR activity in macroalgal epiphytes was compared in contrasting Posidonia sinuosa and Amphibolis antarctica seagrass meadows. Epiphytes on P. sinuosa had higher mass-specific NR activity than those on A. antarctica. In P. sinuosa canopies, NR activity increased with distance from the sediment surface and was negatively correlated with [NH₄⁺] in the water but uncorrelated with [NO₃^–]. This supported the hypothesis that NH₄⁺ released from the sediment suppresses NR in epiphytic algae. In contrast, the vertical variation in NR activity in macroalgae on A. antarctica was not statistically significant although there was a weak correlation with [NO₃^–], which increased with distance from the sediment. Estimated capacities for NO₃^– assimilation in macroalgae epiphytic on seagrasses during summer (24 and 46 mmolN m^–2 d^–1 for P. sinuosa and A. antarctica, respectively) were more than twice the estimated N assimilation rates in similar seagrasses. When the estimates were based on annual average epiphyte loads for seagrass meadows in other locations, they were comparable to those of seagrasses. We conclude that epiphytic algae represent a potentially important sink for water-column nitrate within seagrass meadows.

KEY WORDS: Nitrate reductase · Macroalgae · Seagrass epiphytes · Dissolved inorganic nitrogen · Ammonium · Nitrate · Irradiance