Nutrient dynamics in a mangrove creek (North Brazil) during the dry season

During the dry season, dissolved inorganic nutrients and organic carbon (DOC) in a mangrove tidal creek (Bragança, North Brazil) presented a clear tidal signature: silicate, phosphate, ammonium and DOC covaried with salinity, with minima at high tide and maxima at low tide. Hydrodynamical calculations explained most diel variability as dilution of nutrientrich groundwater input by estuarine water. Creek nutrients tended to lower concentrations towards the end of the dry season, probably due to changes in groundwater dynamics. Ammonium was about 44% higher in the night than during the day, while silicate, phosphate nitrate + nitrite showed differences < 5%, indicating preferential autotrophic uptake of ammonium as nitrogen source. Nitrification and/or nitrogen fixation are probably sources of nitrate + nitrite, which contributed only 12% to the dissolved inorganic nitrogen pool. Dissolved oxygen (7%) and DOC (11%) were lower during the night, suggesting the existence of a labile, algalderived DOC pool. There is a loose coupling between aquatic primary production, groundwater dynamics and tidal regime.