Denitrification activity of microbial communities in sand-gravel sediments and biofilms developing on a concrete riverbed of an urban small stream, Nogawa River, was measured monthly by laboratory incubations after the acetylene inhibition technique during une year from December 1987. The annual mean denitrification rate of the biofilm samples, 1.5 mgN m-2 h-1. was higtrer than the rate ut the sandgravel sediment samples. 0.8 mgN m-2 h-1. Contrary, ratios of the denitrified nitrogen to the total inorganic nitrogen fluxes was lower at the stretch where an attached microbial community developed un the concrete riverbed the stretch with sand-gravel riverbed. The longer residence times of water masses ut the site with a sand-gravel riverbed is responsible for the above relationship. Based on the average denitrifieation rates, if all the channel of Nogawa River were covered with concrete, the proportion of denitrified nitrogen to the input nitrogen should decrease to 1.3 %, whereas the ratio is 2.5% when the riverbed is composed of sands and gravel. The results suggest that the efficiency of nitrogen removal by benthic denitrification is strongly affected by the structure of a channel of the river.

• Jong-Min Oh
• Shingo Ueda
• Norio Ogura