Abstract
Microbial communities catalyze an array of biogeochemical processes integral to carbon fluxes, and nutrient cycling in sediments of aquatic ecosystems. Microbes regulate key processes in surface sediments of streams. Most certainly they will also dominate many aspects of material and energy flow in hyporheic sediments. The relatively small number of studies, which specifically examines the microbial ecology of hyporheic zones, warrants a more inclusive scope of review; therefore, many of the comparisons are based on information from surface sediments of streams and other aquatic ecosystems. This chapter discusses environmental controls on hyporheic bacterial abundances and activities, since there are more data for bacteria than other microbes. It compares the microbial activities of hyporheic sediments with general relationships derived from broad-scale studies of aquatic sediments, examines carbon supply to hyporheic microbes, synthesizes the knowledge, and highlights areas that seem ripe for progress.
Published Version
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