• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2009

The groundwater dependent ecosystem associated with a natural stream is the area where mixing and exchange of surface water and groundwater occurs due to large chemical and hydraulic gradients. Surface-groundwater interactions play an important role in biogeochemical processes in groundwater dependent ecosystems and make this area a hydro-ecological hot spot. The objective of this study is to characterize the groundwater dependent ecosystem in a natural stream where nitrate contamination of stream water is observed by means of hydrogeological, chemical, and biological methods. In this study, vertical flow exchange(hyporheic flow) rates between stream and groundwater were estimated based on vertical hydraulic gradients measured at mini-piezometers of various depths. To investigate the biological natural attenuation potential, biological analyses using polymerase chain reaction(PCR)-cloning methods were performed in this study. Results show that the veritical hyporheic water fluxes affect nitrate concentrations and bacterial densities in groundwater dependent ecosystems to some degree. Also, denitrifying bacteria were identified in hyporheic soils, which may support the biodegradation potential of the groundwater dependent ecosystems under certain conditions.