ABSTRACT: By 3 different approaches we demonstrate the ability of filter feeding ciliates (Euplotes spp. and Uronema marinum) to enhance interstitial solute transports. By a simple diffusion analogy we quantify the effect as a function of cell densities. Ciliate densities often encountered in biofilms, microbial mats or estuarine sediments may enhance the transport coefficients of biogeochemical important solutes like, for instance, O₂ by a factor of 1.1 to 10 above the diffusive coefficient. In less productive environments (coastal or shelf sediments) ciliate densities are usually too low to cause any significant effect on the diffusive mediated solute transport, at least in the case of small fast-diffusing molecules such as O₂.

KEY WORDS: Diffusion · Solutes · Ciliates · Dispersion · Porewater · Transport coefficients

Published in MEPS Vol. 186 (1999) on September 17
ISSN: 0171-8630. Copyright © Inter-Research, Oldendorf/Luhe, 1999