Resolving the influence of nitrogen abundances on sediment organic matter in macrophyte-dominated lakes, using fluorescence spectroscopy

A controlled experiment was designed to resolve the influence of nitrogen abundance on sediment organic matters in macrophyte-dominated lakes using fluorescence analysis. Macrophyte biomass showed coincident growth trends with time, but different variation rates with nitrogen treatment. All plant growth indexes with nitrogen addition (N, NH4Cl 100, 200, 400 mg/kg, respectively) were lower than those of the control group. Four humic-like components, two autochthonous tryptophan-like components, and one autochthonous tyrosine-like component were identified using the parallel factor analysis model. The results suggested that the relative component changes of fluorescence in the colonized sediments were in direct relation to the change of root biomass with time. In the experiment, the root formation parameters of the plants studied were significantly affected by adding N in sediments, which may be related to the reason that the root growth was affected by N addition. Adding a low concentration of N to sediments can play a part in supplying nutrients to the plants. However, the intensive uptake of NH4+ may result in an increase in the intracellular concentration of ammonia, which is highly toxic to the plant cells. Hence, our experiment results manifested that organic matter cycling in the macrophyte-dominated sediment was influenced by nitrogen enrichment through influencing vegetation and relevant microbial activity.