Evaluation of nitrogen sources in the Urias lagoon system, Gulf of California, based on stable isotopes in macroalgae

The concentrations of chemical forms of nitrogen (N) and their isotopic composition in the water column and the delta N-15 signals in 738 samples of macroalgae collected during one year across the Urias lagoon system (Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico) were analyzed in order to study the N sources. The delta N-15-macroalgae premise is that they register and integrate the variability of N and may provide time-integrated information about N pollution. To validate this premise, we applied two models to predict the isotopic variability of N available in the water column (delta N-15-DIN): one is based on a physical mixing balance of N sources (simple model), and the second includes the effects of the biogeochemical processes on the signals (coupled model, CM). Both models showed significant R-2, but CM better explained the delta N-15-DIN variability. The relation between delta N-15-DINCM and delta N-15-macroalgae also showed a good fit, although lower than expected and with higher dispersion. The multiple N sources and co-occurring biogeochemical reactions, which produce a mixture of chemical species of N and of their isotopic compositions, as well as the high diversity of species (45) explained the elevated variability and lack of fit. Even so, delta N-15 in macroalgae is the most useful available tool to quantify the relative contributions of N to ecosystems from different sources. Based on Bayesian isotopic mixing models, the main anthropogenic sources of N to the Urias lagoonal system were domestic effluents (50%), atmospheric deposition (24%), and seafood processing plant effluents (21%), and to a lesser extent, aquaculture effluents (3%), agriculture runoff (1%), and oceanic N (1%).