Study of the nitrogen cycle in estuarine systems subject to different impacts of natural and anthropic changes on the São Paulo Coast

• Grant number: 18/24119-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2020
• End date: November 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Chemical Oceanography
• Principal Investigator: Elisabete de Santis Braga da Graça Saraiva
• Grantee: Paula Carpintero de Moraes
• Host Institution: Instituto Oceanográfico (IO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/14875-8 - Isotope paring technic (IPT) use to measure nitrification, denitrification, anammox and DNRA in estuarine sediments, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

A combination of laboratory and in situ sediment incubations will be applied to unravel sedimentary processes magnitude involved in the nitrogen cycle in two São Paulo coastal areas. The aim is to highlight how natural conditions and anthropogenic activities affect the N cycle. The use of traditional flux measurements associated with isotope technics will allow the nitrogen cycle to be followed completely and simultaneously in the incubated sediments. Simultaneous analysis of microbial activity rates and macrofauna composition and influence will be combined to generate an overview of the sedimentary nitrogen process occurring in the sediment and the influence of the dominant fauna in these processes. Samples in different nutritional environments (freshwater to marine), with different degrees of preservation (Santos estuarine complex and estuarine-lagunar complex of Canaéia-Iguape) and subject to different anthropogenic impacts (contamination by industrial and/or domestic sewage and aquaculture) , at different times of the year (spring, summer, autumn and winter) will bring an improvement in the knowledge of the nitrogen cycle in tropical coastal regions, not only in Brazil but on a global scale. The chemical and isotope analyzes will be carried out in international cooperation with the University of Parma and the collaboration of international researchers from Italy and Lithuania. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PAULA C. MORAES; BRUNO O. SUTTI; VITOR G. CHIOZZINI; ELISABETE S. BRAGA. Benthic aerobic respiration and nutrient fluxes in Cananéia-Iguape Estuarine-Lagoon complex along a salinity gradient. Ocean and Coastal Research, v. 71, 2023-12-04. (18/24119-0, 20/16485-7)