The behavior of ammonia-oxidizing microbes in a mangrove forest under hydrological change.. Nitrification and RIM

Coastal wetlands such as mangrove forests are breeding places for nuisance causing insects. Rotational Impoundment Management (RIM) is one method used for mosquito control, which involves summer flooding for 6 consecutive months. In addition to managing mosquitos, RIM, may change biogeochemical pathways in managed areas. This study set out to investigate how RIM affects the activity, size and composition of the community of aerobic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in mangrove forest soils, key in the soil nitrogen cycle. Soil samples were collected yearly in a RIM managed area and a non-RIM managed control impoundment along the Indian River Lagoon on the Atlantic coast of Florida. Before and after the start of RIM, soil samples were collected in three habitat zones (dwarf, sparse or dense) dominated by black mangrove (Avicennia germinans): The zones differed in the size and abundance of black mangroves. The expectation was that the aerobic microbial ammonia-oxidizing community would differ between the RIM and Control areas and among the three habitat zones.