Streambed Sediment Microbial Activity Measurements from Staffordshire 2015

June 2015 measurements from two reaches of the Wood Brook, Staffordshire, quantify microbial activity in sand and gravel sediments. The dataset contains rates of fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis, extracellular phenol oxidase activity, and potential denitrification from laboratory incubation experiments. It also includes organic matter content for the collected sediment samples.

Use Cases

• Compare fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis rates between sand and gravel sediment types to assess total microbial activity.
• Analyze extracellular phenol oxidase activity data to study recalcitrant carbon uptake in streambed environments.
• Model potential denitrification rates using sediment type and organic matter content as predictor variables.
• Correlate phenol oxidation measurements with organic matter content across the two sampled stream reaches.

Strengths

• Data collected from two distinct streambed reaches (sandy and gravel) enabling comparative analysis.
• Includes five pseudo-replicate samples per location for measurement robustness.
• Covers multiple microbial process measurements: FDA hydrolysis, phenol oxidase activity, and denitrification.

Limitations

• Limited temporal coverage to a single sampling event in June 2015.
• Geographic scope is restricted to one stream (Wood Brook) in Staffordshire.
• Sample size is constrained to two locations with five replicates each.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

Sediments collected using a 5cm-diameter AMS slide hammer and trowel from 0-10cm depth, followed by laboratory incubation experiments.

Time Range

June 2015

Freshness

Data last updated March 2026, but underlying measurements are from 2015.

Geography

Wood Brook, Staffordshire, United Kingdom