Seasonal variations in population density of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and sulfate reduction rates were examined for sediments of an offshore and a reed site of Lake Teganuma (freshwater, hypertrophic), Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The numbers of SRB (colony forming units E ml
-1) in the surface sediments (02 cm) were at a level of 10
5 at the reed site and a level of 10
4 at the offshore one, and they remained ralatively constant throughout the year. The activities at both sites increased from summer to autumn, and the reed sediments showed higher activities (1.0816.6 times) than the offshore ones in this period; the maximum rates (September) (nmol·ml
-1 ·day
-1) in the offshore and reed sediments were 290 in the 03 cm layer and 1990 in the 36 cm layer, respectively.
In situ temperature may have greatly affected sulfate reduction.
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