Ecogeochemistry and denitrification in non-eutrophic coastal sediments

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Coastal nutrient pollution is an ever-present threat to estuaries worldwide, although New Zealand estuaries are generally low in nutrients compared to much of the rest of the studied world. While elsewhere benthic denitrification has been identified as a crucial ecosystem service to help mitigate increasing N loads to the coast, we do not know the specific controls on denitrification in low-nutrient estuaries. 

As both terrestrial sediment deposition and anthropogenic N loading continue to increase in New Zealand, it is now more important than ever to understand of how these still relatively un-impacted systems function under cumulative effects, so that managers of these systems can be better informed in the future.