Short-term efficiency of epibenthic microbial mat components on phosphorus sorption

PERILLO, V.L.; PAN, J.; LA COLLA, N.S.; SERRA, A.V.; BOTTÉ, S.E.; CUADRADO, D.G.

MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2020 vol. 157

0025-326X

Microbial mats may be an alternative tool for phosphorus (P) remediation of eutrophic coastal waters. The mainobjective of this work was to determine the importance that the living and non-living components of the matshave on P short-term sorption. Microbial mats were collected in the Paso Seco coastal flat, Argentina(40°38′3.32″S; 62°12′24.85″W), and incubated under controlled conditions in the lab. An adsorption curve wasperformed with the microbial mats. Active mats had a Freundlich constant 8.9-fold higher than underlying sandysediments. Collected samples were then treated as follows: maintaining and disturbing their structural integrity(natural and autoclaved, respectively), and both conditions were incubated with filtered seawater, without andwith phosphate addition (0 and 5 mg P L−1, respectively). Natural mats had a significantly-higher phosphateremoval percentage than autoclaved ones, suggesting that living microorganisms increase P short-term sorptionefficiency by ~25%, while non-living matter may account for the rest.