Dynamics of dissolved inorganic nitrogen in bioturbated littoral surface sediments at a selected tourist destination of Northern Coastal Bay of Bengal, India: An ecologically significant case study

Abhishek Mukherjee , Sabyasachi Chakraborty , Subhajit Das and Tarun Kumar De

Abstract
A case study was undertaken to observe the variations in the concentrations of the dissolved inorganic nitrogen species in the surface sediments of the littoral compartments at Bakkhali and Frasergunj situated within the single coastal stretch at the southernmost tip of West Bengal, India. Effects, if any, of the presence or absence of bioturbations on the variability of the dissolved nitrate-nitrogen, nitrite-nitrogen, ammonia-nitrogen, total dissolved nitrogen and the cumulative concentration of former three variables in the beach surface sediments were also noted. On site nitrite-nitrogen was found in alternate fluctuating patterns throughout the beach zonations with gradual lowering and peaking within each zone. An evidently prominent fact was the independence of dissolved inorganic nitrogen species from bioturbatory influences in the surface sediments of wave exposed littoral environments at the study sites. That effect might become significant in a vertical profile but from the data procured it can be stated that inorganic nitrogen species concentrations in surface beach sediments are not entirely perturbed by bioturbations and are governed by many other environmental parameters. A Pearson correlation performed on the normalized data sets revealed that there existed a fairly significant correlation in between the both the beach sediments with r-values ranging from -0.97 to +0.99 among the five variables considered at 95% confidence level. ANOVA Single factor yielded values in support of the rejection of the null hypothesis.

Keywords
Bakkhali; Frasergunj; Littoral zone; Stoichiometry; Inorganic nitrogen; Bay of Bengal.

DOI
10.21472/bjbs.051117

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