oscillations in soil bacterial redox reactions

6
Oscillations in soil bacterial redox reactions A.C. Fowler a,b,n , H.F. Winstanley a , M.J. McGuinness c , L.B. Cribbin a a MACSI, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland b OCIAM, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK c Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand HIGHLIGHTS We report carbon and ammonium spatial oscillations in soils. We associate these with activatorinhibitor type microbial ecosystem dynamics in soils. A competitive heterotroph-fermenter system exhibits boom-and-bust oscillations. The oscillations are relaxational in conditions of starvation. We expect that spatial diffusion will cause travelling waves which explain the observations. article info Article history: Received 13 August 2013 Received in revised form 15 October 2013 Accepted 19 October 2013 Available online 30 October 2013 Keywords: Heterotrophs Fermenters Oscillations Contaminant plumes abstract Spatial oscillations in soil contaminant concentration proles are sometimes observed, but rarely commented on, or are attributed to noisy data. In this paper we consider a possible mechanism for the occurrence of oscillatory reactant proles within contaminant plumes. The bioremediative reactions which occur are effected by bacteria, whose rôle is normally conceived of as being passive. Here we argue that competition, for example between heterotrophic and fermentative bacteria, can occur in the form of an activatorinhibitor system, thus promoting oscillations. We describe a simple model for the competition between two such microbial populations, and we show that in normal oligotrophic groundwater conditions, oscillatory behaviour is easily obtained. When such competition occurs in a dispersive porous medium, travelling waves can be generated, which provide a possible explanation for the observed soil column oscillations. & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Measurements of soil mineral and contaminant concentrations are commonly interpreted in terms of a sequence of redox reactions effected by a succession of terminal electron acceptors, in the progressive order oxygen, nitrate, manganese, and so on (Chapelle, 2001). These reactions, typied by the degradation of generic organic carbon substrates CH 2 O by oxygen, CH 2 O þ O 2 - r H 2 O þ CO 2 ; ð1:1Þ are enabled by microbial reactions, and the reaction rate r is typically described by a multiplicative Monod term of the form (for (1.1)) r ¼ r 0 X ½O 2 K þ½O 2 ½CH 2 O K c þ½CH 2 O ; ð1:2Þ where [O 2 ] and [CH 2 O] are the concentrations of oxygen and organic carbon, respectively, and X represents microbial biomass. Typically, computational models for the evolution of contaminated groundwater plumes seek to understand the succession of reaction fronts in soil columns (Chapelle, 2001, p. 294) by means of reaction-diffusion models in which the microbial biomass is not considered to vary (e.g., Hunter et al., 1998). Despite this, the growth of microbial populations depends on nutrient uptake, and different microbial communities actively compete with each other (e.g., Lovley and Klug, 1986). In particular, the principle of competitive exclusion allows different microbial communities to dominate in different strata (Chapelle, 2001, pp. 177 ff.). In this paper we explore another possibility which arises from microbial population interaction, and that is the occurrence of spatial oscillations in soil column concentrations. The Rexco site in Manseld was home to a coal carbonisation plant which spilled ammoniacal liquor into the surrounding soil in the mid-twentieth century. An estimated 70,000 tonnes of this liquor was disposed into a settling lagoon between 1956 and 1969. The active spillage was eventually stopped a year later. Since then, a sandstone unsaturated zone of depth around 20 m has been an ongoing source of groundwater contamination. The contamination consists of ammonium, nitrate and phenols. A large eld investi- gation took place between 1994 and 1997 to study the natural Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yjtbi Journal of Theoretical Biology 0022-5193/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2013.10.010 n Corresponding author at: MACSI, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland. Tel.: þ353 61234642. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.C. Fowler). Journal of Theoretical Biology 342 (2014) 3338

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Oscillations in soil bacterial redox reactions

A.C. Fowler a,b,n, H.F. Winstanley a, M.J. McGuinness c, L.B. Cribbin a

a MACSI, University of Limerick, Limerick, Irelandb OCIAM, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKc Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

H I G H L I G H T S

� We report carbon and ammonium spatial oscillations in soils.� We associate these with activator–inhibitor type microbial ecosystem dynamics in soils.� A competitive heterotroph-fermenter system exhibits boom-and-bust oscillations.� The oscillations are relaxational in conditions of starvation.� We expect that spatial diffusion will cause travelling waves which explain the observations.

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 13 August 2013Received in revised form15 October 2013Accepted 19 October 2013Available online 30 October 2013

Keywords:HeterotrophsFermentersOscillationsContaminant plumes

a b s t r a c t

Spatial oscillations in soil contaminant concentration profiles are sometimes observed, but rarely commentedon, or are attributed to noisy data. In this paper we consider a possible mechanism for the occurrence ofoscillatory reactant profiles within contaminant plumes. The bioremediative reactions which occur areeffected by bacteria, whose rôle is normally conceived of as being passive. Here we argue that competition,for example between heterotrophic and fermentative bacteria, can occur in the form of an activator–inhibitorsystem, thus promoting oscillations. We describe a simple model for the competition between two suchmicrobial populations, and we show that in normal oligotrophic groundwater conditions, oscillatorybehaviour is easily obtained. When such competition occurs in a dispersive porous medium, travellingwaves can be generated, which provide a possible explanation for the observed soil column oscillations.

& 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Measurements of soil mineral and contaminant concentrationsare commonly interpreted in terms of a sequence of redoxreactions effected by a succession of terminal electron acceptors,in the progressive order oxygen, nitrate, manganese, and so on(Chapelle, 2001). These reactions, typified by the degradation ofgeneric organic carbon substrates CH2O by oxygen,

CH2OþO2-rH2OþCO2; ð1:1Þ

are enabled by microbial reactions, and the reaction rate r istypically described by a multiplicative Monod term of the form(for (1.1))

r¼ r0X½O2�

Kþ½O2�

� � ½CH2O�Kcþ½CH2O�

� �; ð1:2Þ

where [O2] and [CH2O] are the concentrations of oxygen andorganic carbon, respectively, and X represents microbial biomass.

Typically, computational models for the evolution of contaminatedgroundwater plumes seek to understand the succession of reactionfronts in soil columns (Chapelle, 2001, p. 294) by means ofreaction-diffusion models in which the microbial biomass is notconsidered to vary (e.g., Hunter et al., 1998). Despite this, thegrowth of microbial populations depends on nutrient uptake, anddifferent microbial communities actively compete with each other(e.g., Lovley and Klug, 1986). In particular, the principle ofcompetitive exclusion allows different microbial communities todominate in different strata (Chapelle, 2001, pp. 177 ff.). In thispaper we explore another possibility which arises from microbialpopulation interaction, and that is the occurrence of spatialoscillations in soil column concentrations.

The Rexco site in Mansfield was home to a coal carbonisationplant which spilled ammoniacal liquor into the surrounding soil inthe mid-twentieth century. An estimated 70,000 tonnes of thisliquor was disposed into a settling lagoon between 1956 and 1969.The active spillage was eventually stopped a year later. Since then,a sandstone unsaturated zone of depth around 20 m has been anongoing source of groundwater contamination. The contaminationconsists of ammonium, nitrate and phenols. A large field investi-gation took place between 1994 and 1997 to study the natural

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yjtbi

Journal of Theoretical Biology

0022-5193/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2013.10.010

n Corresponding author at: MACSI, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.Tel.: þ353 61234642.

E-mail address: [email protected] (A.C. Fowler).

Journal of Theoretical Biology 342 (2014) 33–38

attenuation of the contamination (Broholm et al., 1998; Jones et al.,1998, 1999). As part of the investigation, groundwater and soilsamples were taken from a series of boreholes and the minerals inthe aquifer were characterised. The results from one particularborehole, namely BH102, are shown in Fig. 1. Data for eachcontaminant was recorded along 25 cm intervals beginning 18 munderground at the top of the saturated zone. The borehole thusshows a vertical section through the contaminant plume.

As we explained above, the accepted wisdom concerning suchplumes is that the contaminant is sequentially consumed by asequence of terminal electron acceptors (TEAs), generally in theorder oxygen, nitrate, manganese IV, iron III, sulphate and carbondioxide. Thus a vertical borehole would expect to find a sequence offronts inwhich first oxygen, then nitrate, and so on, are removed. It isthis conceptual picture with which we wish to confront Fig. 1.

In more detail (Thullner et al., 2007), the breakdown of organiccarbon takes place in stages, with hydrolysis producing sugars,then fermentative processes producing simpler carbon sourcessuch as acetate, and it is these which are mostly accessed by theTEA processes.

There are a number of features in Fig. 1 of note. Oxygen was notmonitored, but we assume that it was removed at a front at depth19 m, where there is a notable nitrate spike. As the data wasmeasured every 25 cm, it is quite conceivable that the nitrate spikeis nothing more than an outlier; of interest, but not requiringdetailed explanation.

However, our present concern is with an apparent second frontat around 23 m depth, where both nitrate and acid (Hþ) areremoved. In such reaction fronts, we expect another reactant to beremoved from the other side of the front, but none were mon-itored. The feature which concerns us here is the change in theprofiles of both organic carbon CH2O and ammonium NHþ

4 .Exactly at the front, there is a transition to oscillatory profiles ofboth these reactants. The data is very clear to indicate this, and inaddition the two reactants are out of phase. It is this oscillationwhich we seek to explain.

Such oscillations have been found elsewhere. For example, alater borehole study by Smits et al. (2009) at the same site foundsimilar oscillations in both nitrate and nitrite at two differentboreholes. In a laboratory microcosm study, Watson et al. (2003)found oscillatory behaviour both in the experimental data and alsoin the simulation model which they use to fit the data. A laterapplication (Watson et al., 2005) to a field scale plume wasinconclusive in this aspect, as the data was apparently not sampledat such fine spatial scale.

2. Mathematical model

Microbial populations generally present in the subsoil aremetabolically very diverse. The standard picture is one of compe-titive exclusion between different populations leading to thedominance of one metabolic type in any location. The hierarchyof redox zonation is typically explained by the competitiveadvantage enjoyed by populations exploiting the most energeti-cally favourable terminal electron acceptor available. As – orwhere – this TEA's supply is exhausted, the next most reactiveTEA supplants it as the dominant metabolic TEA process (Chapelle,2001; Froelich et al., 1979).

This paradigm paints a relatively static picture of the zonationin a contaminant plume once the native microbiota have accli-mated and adapted to the contaminant and established the initialzonation through competition. A more nuanced view recognisesthat a range of subsidiary metabolic processes and populationinteractions can accompany the dominant TEA process at any(macroscopic) location. The subsurface microbial habitat is usuallyvery diverse at smaller (Darcy- and pore-) scales due to hetero-geneity both of the porous medium and groundwater flows. Thisallows for populations exploiting metabolic pathways other thanthe locally dominant TEA process to coexist, and expand ifconditions become favourable. Similarly, some metabolic path-ways can be split between different populations due to biochem-ical limitations or thermodynamic considerations. For example,complex or recalcitrant organic substrates can be more readilybroken down by fermenters than by heterotrophic respirers. Theheterotrophs can more efficiently combine respiration of thedominant TEA with the fermentation products (typically acetatesand other simple organics, and H2) than with the complexsubstrate. The richness of these interactions plausibly allows fora dynamic view of groundwater ecology which is underexplored.

In the case of the current site, use of ammonia as an electrondonor is limited thermodynamically by the need for a relativelypotent TEA. Ammonia oxidation using O2 (aerobic) and NO�

2 , NO�3

(anaerobic) as TEA are now well documented. There are alsorecent suggestions that some bacteria are able to use manganate(IV) as TEA in ammonia oxidation (Javanaud et al., 2011). A furthersink for ammonia is uptake for growth, rather than for respiration,since nitrogen is a necessary nutrient to all organisms. The lack ofdata on nitrite or manganese (Mn2þ

ðaqÞ product) makes it difficult toascertain the nature of the oscillations in ammonium concentra-tion. However, for the oscillation in organic C we can straightfor-wardly hypothesis microbial interactions which permit oscillatorypopulation dynamics. The particular value of the present boreholedata is that it has sufficient spatial resolution to suggest that theconcentration variation in the 23–25 m depth range is genuinelyoscillatory rather than due to experimental noise. We use thissimple example to illustrate the paradigm of oscillatory dynamicsin the groundwater context. Similar types of population interac-tions may underlie the ammonium oscillations in this data, andindeed in a variety of borehole data in the literature which maypreviously have been dismissed as experimental noise.

Mathematical models of bacterial reactions in contaminantplumes normally assume a passive suite of bacterial populations,although it is well recognised that different populations cancompete for resources, as do all populations. While it is not soeasy for chemical reactions to oscillate, it is more common forcompeting populations to do so. The thesis we examine in thispaper is whether a realistic description of competing bacterialpopulations can cause the oscillations which are seen in Fig. 1.

Early work on competing microbial populations (Aris andHumphrey, 1977; Hsu et al., 1977; Fredrickson and Stephanopoulos,1981) focussed on competitive exclusion and the survival of adominant population. Oscillations in single microbial cultures are

Fig. 1. Borehole data from Rexco borehole 102. Contaminant concentrations areshown as a function of depth in the hole.

A.C. Fowler et al. / Journal of Theoretical Biology 342 (2014) 33–3834

well documented, for example in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Borzaniet al., 1977; Chen et al., 1990; Patnaik, 2003), and a variety ofmathematical models have been developed for these (e.g., Skichkoand Kol'tsova, 2006). While oscillations can occur in single speciesbacterial metabolism, they have also been reported in systems ofcompeting microbial populations; Lenas et al. (1998) and Gaki et al.(2009) report oscillations in a competitive system in which substrateinhibition is included via a sigmoidal non-Monod growth rate.Recently, Khatri et al. (2012) have provided a model for competingmicrobial populations which is based (their equations 1 and 2) on aclassic model of substrate/biomass interaction, whose relatives arisein many different fields (Goldbeter, 1996; Fowler, 2013; Anderson andMay, 1981; Huppert et al., 2005; Omta et al., 2013), and theirextension of the model to completing populations (their equation 22)is similar in shape to the model we propose below, although havingdifferent feedbacks; particularly, their model gives stable steadysolutions, which are then forced stochastically to produce oscillations.

The basis of the model we consider here is indicated in Fig. 2.We denote the heterotroph population by H ½mgCOD l�1�, and thefermenter population as F ½mgCOD l�1�. Both populations feed offcarbon, which we specify in two different forms, Cn ½mgCOD l�1�and C1 ½mgCOD l�1�, the subscript indicating the complexity of themolecules: Cn represents the complex form, and C1 the simplerform. In our model the respiring heterotrophs can use both formsof carbon, but prefer the simpler form. On the other hand, thefermenters use only the complex carbon, but break it down to thesimpler form. Because of this, the fermenters facilitate growth ofthe heterotrophs, by providing them with an easier food source.However, the use by the heterotrophs of the complex carbonremoves the food source for the fermenters. Thus, we appear tohave a classic activator–inhibitor system: F activates H, while Hinhibits F. On this basis, we can expect oscillations to occur; and,when a diffusive term is added, we can expect the formation oftravelling waves, although we do not pursue the issue of spatialoscillations here.

A mathematical model to describe these interactions isgiven by

_H ¼ rnCnHCnþKn

þ r1C1HC1þK1

�dHH;

_F ¼ rFCnFCnþKF

�dFF;

_Cn ¼ � rFCnFYFnðCnþKF Þ

� rnCnHYnðCnþKnÞ

þSþzðdhHþdFFÞ;

_C1 ¼rFCnF

YF1ðCnþKF Þ� r1C1HY1ðC1þK1Þ

: ð2:1Þ

The model is built using simple Monod uptake terms with Monodcoefficients Kn, K1 and KF ½mgCOD l�1�, suitable yield coefficients Yn,Y1, YFn and YF1 [–], and assuming linear death rates dH, dF [d�1] for

the bacteria. For simplicity we assume that TEAs are not rate-limiting, and consider the reaction rates r1, rn [d�1] to include theTEA-dependent term of (1.2) as an approximately constant multi-plicative factor. The complex carbon is supplied at a rate S½mgCOD l�1 d�1� with an additional source term from organicmaterial released on bacterial death (with a conversion ratio z).As described later, the external source S may stand in for a supplydue to either advection or diffusion in the contaminant plume, orfor production by hydrolysis of organic carbon, and is a suitablemodel for an experimental system in a chemostat. We also assumethat the system is well-mixed and ignore any dependence ofuptake and growth on other chemical and physical conditions ormicrobial populations.

We scale these equations by balancing terms on the right-handside, together with an assumption that the r1 growth term for H islarger than the rn term, and that the yield coefficients Yi are O(1).This leads to the definitions

H¼ SdH

h; F ¼ SdFf ; C1 ¼

K1dHr1

c; Cn ¼KFdFrF

s; ð2:2Þ

and we choose (for reasons that will emerge below) the time scale

t � t0 ¼ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiKF

rFS

s: ½d� ð2:3Þ

The resulting dimensionless model takes the form

ɛλ _h ¼ δhs1þγs

þ hc1þαc

�h;

ɛ _f ¼ sf1þβs

� f� �

;

_s ¼ ɛ 1� sfYFnð1þβsÞ�

δhsYnð1þγsÞþzðhþ f Þ

� �;

_c ¼ ɛμsf

YF1ð1þβsÞ�hc

Y1ð1þαcÞ

� �; ð2:4Þ

where the dimensionless parameters are defined by

α¼ dHr1

; β¼ dFrF; γ ¼ KFdF

KnrF; δ¼ rnKFdF

rFKndH;

ɛ¼ 1dFt0

; λ¼ dFdH

; μ¼ r1KFdFrFK1dH

: ð2:5Þ

Typical assumed values of the constants of the model, and theresulting values of the dimensionless parameters, are given inTable 1. Generally, we expect that the bacterial decay time scalesd�1H and d�1

F will be comparable, and, we suppose, much less thanthe nutrient uptake time scale t0, so that λ� 1, ɛ{1, and if the Kisand ris are comparable, then μ� δ� 1. The bulk of the parametersare taken from Langergraber et al. (2009). An issue arises con-cerning the choice of the supply term S in Langergraber et al.'smodel. In their description of wastewater treatment by con-structed wetlands, Cn is itself formed through bacterially enabledhydrolysis of biodegradable organic matter, and this descriptionmay not be consistent with the situation which concerns us, acontaminant plume in which the contaminating carbon source isdelivered by groundwater flow, and is much less concentrated. Inseeking a value for S, we suppose that the source term representsthe supply by horizontal advection and vertical diffusion, that is,

S� �u∂Cn

∂xþD

∂2Cn

∂z2; ð2:6Þ

where u is the horizontal groundwater velocity, D is the transversedispersion coefficient, and x and z are the horizontal and verticalcoordinates. We can thus define a convective time scale tc and adispersive time scale tD via

tc �xu; tD � z2

D: ð2:7Þ

Fig. 2. A schematic representation of our model. Complex carbon Cn is brokendown by fermenters F to more simple carbon C1. Both forms can be consumed bythe respiring heterotrophs H, but the simpler carbon is favoured. Cell death of F andH provides a source of complex carbon in addition to the external source S.

A.C. Fowler et al. / Journal of Theoretical Biology 342 (2014) 33–38 35

For a field site with downstream distance from contaminantsource of x� 300 m, say, and groundwater velocity u� 10 m y�1,we have tc � 104 d, while for a grain size of dg � 10�4 m, we haveudg � 0:3� 10�10 m2 s�1, which is less than the diffusion coeffi-cient, so we can take D� 10�9 m2 s�1, and thus tD � 3� 105 d,choosing z� 5 m. Since tcotD, we estimate S� Cn=tc , and using(2.2), this suggests we choose

S� KFdFrF tc

; ð2:8Þ

and this gives the value in Table 1.

2.1. Steady state and stability

The activator–inhibitor nature of the model lies in the follow-ing observation. Assuming δ40, then increasing h causes loss of sin (2.4)3, and thus lower production of f in (2.4)2: h inhibits f. Onthe other hand, increased f produces larger c in (2.4)4, and thuslarger h in (2.4)1, so that f can activate h. To examine whether thismechanism can produce instability, we begin by studying thesimpler situation in which the Monod constants and cell materialrecycling are put to zero, i. e., α¼ β¼ γ ¼ z¼ 0. In this case, themodel is simply

ɛλ _h ¼ δhsþhðc�1Þ;ɛ _f ¼ ðs�1Þf ;_s ¼ ɛ 1� sf

YFn�δhs

Yn

� �;

_c ¼ ɛμsfYF1

�hcY1

� �: ð2:9Þ

Now firstly note that if δ¼0 (i.e., rn¼0), the (f, s) systemuncouples from the (h, c) system. In this case, the (f, s) sub-system is

ɛ _f ¼ ðs�1Þf ;_s ¼ ɛ 1� sf

YFn

� �; ð2:10Þ

and can be easily studied in the phase plane. Alternatively (cf. Fowler(2013)), we write

f ¼ YFneθ ; ð2:11Þwhence

s¼ 1þɛ _θ ; ð2:12Þand θ satisfies the nonlinear oscillator equation

€θþeθ�1¼ �ɛ _θeθ ; ð2:13Þwhose steady solution θ¼0 is stable. If, as we surmise, ɛ{1, then(2.13) describes a weakly damped oscillator in the potential well

VðθÞ ¼ eθ�θ: ð2:14ÞSince f-YFn and s-1, the (h, c) system is given after the (f, s)

transient by

ɛλ _h ¼ hðc�1Þ;

_c ¼ ɛμYFn

YF1�hcY1

� �: ð2:15Þ

whose dynamics are entirely analogous to those of (f, s). Specifi-cally, with

h¼ YFnY1

YF1eϕ; c¼ 1þɛλ _ϕ; ð2:16Þ

we have

€ϕþμYFn

λYF1½eϕ�1� ¼ �ɛμYFn

YF1

_ϕeϕ; ð2:17Þ

with the same dynamics as θ, and on the same time scale ifμ� 1; λ� 1; Yk � 1.

2.2. Cross coupling

Because in particular the solutions are weakly decaying oscil-lators, one wonders what the effect of the non-zero coupling termδ is. We use the same definitions as above, namely

f ¼ YFneθ ; h¼ YFnY1

YF1eϕ; ð2:18Þ

then the system (2.9) is transformed to the coupled oscillatorequations

€θþVf ðθ;ϕÞ ¼ �ɛðeθþδeϕÞ _θ ;λ €ϕ�δ €θþVhðθ;ϕÞ ¼ ɛμfðeθþδeϕÞ _θ�λ _ϕeϕg; ð2:19Þwhere

Vf ¼ eθ�1þδeϕ;

Vh ¼ μfð1�δÞeϕ�eθg; ð2:20Þand

δ ¼ δYFnY1

YF1Yn; μ ¼ μYFn

YF1: ð2:21Þ

For small ɛ, assuming λ; μ; δ � 1, we expect the steady state toremain oscillatory under perturbations, but the cross couplingallows the possibility of instability, and indeed this is what wefind. Fig. 3 shows a phase portrait of a relaxational solution inwhich c and h oscillate in a spiky fashion; Fig. 4 shows thecorresponding time series. The oscillatory behaviour is retainedfor z40, and for z¼0.5, for example, oscillations are similar. Atz¼1, h in Fig. 4 is similar but c is period-doubled, suggesting amore exotic dynamical behaviour. This is achieved by lowering ɛ:for example, with ɛ¼0.07 and z¼1, the solutions are oscillatorybut apparently chaotic.

Table 1Values of the constants and parameters at 101C, based on Langergraber et al. (2009)equivalents marked.

Symbol Typical value Equivalent(a)

dF 0.02 d�1 bFBdH 0.2 d�1 bHKn 2 mgCOD l�1 KSF

K1 4 mgCOD l�1 KSA

KF 28 mgCOD l�1 KSFB

rn 2.4 d�1 μHηgr1 2.4 d�1 μHηgrF 1.5 d�1 μFBS 0:37� 10�4mgCOD l�1 d�1

t0 0.71�103 dYn 0.63 YHY1 0.63 YHYFn 0.053 YFBYF1 18 1

YFB�1

α 0.08β 0.013γ 0.18δ 2.2ɛ 0.07z r1λ 0.1μ 1.1

(a) The value for S is determined as described in the text. We might alternativelyuse a value based on Langergraber et al. (2009) of S¼ khH¼ 60 mgCOD l�1 d�1,using an estimate H� 30 mgCOD l�1 from Henze et al. (1999). As discussed in thetext, we do not consider this appropriate in the case of a contaminant plume.

A.C. Fowler et al. / Journal of Theoretical Biology 342 (2014) 33–3836

3. Conclusions

Motivated by data from a single borehole into an ammonium-contaminated plume which shows clear sign of oscillations in theammonium and organic carbon profiles, we have explored thepossibility that such oscillations are due to competitive interactionbetween two classes of bacteria, heterotrophs and fermenters,which interact in a manner similar to activator–inhibitor systems.It is well-known in reaction-diffusion systems that when thereaction kinetics are oscillatory, the presence of diffusion cancause the existence of periodic travelling waves (e.g., Fowler,2011, pp. 41 ff.), and so our purpose here has been to demonstratethat such oscillations can occur in realistic descriptions of bacterialinteractions. Indeed, we did not have to look hard. The simplestmodel and choice of parameters produced robust oscillations. Wethus consider that bacterial oscillation caused by competitiveinteraction is a possible mechanism to produce oscillation in soilchemical species. We should emphasise that the oscillationsappear in conditions of sparse supply, i.e., the supply term S in(2.1) is small. This has the critical effect of making the parameter ɛin (2.4) small, so that the damping terms are small. In laboratoryexperiments, nutrient supply is typically much larger, and wemight expect large values of ɛ, and thus strong damping toward asteady state.

The present work opens the door for further studies which wehope to progress. The first such question is whether the kineticsexplored here will lead to spatial oscillations in the advective–diffusive context of a contaminant plume. Preliminary work(Cribbin, 2013) suggests that this is the case. This is slightly lessobvious that one might expect, since the oscillations we havefound rely on the supply term S, somewhat analogously to theglycolytic oscillators studied by Goldbeter (1996), though wesurmise that the diffusive or advective flux can play the role ofthis term. However, it may be that more sophisticated modelling

of the carbon supply along the lines of the model studied byLangergraber et al. (2009) will be warranted. This issue is deferredto further study.

Two other features of the solutions deserve study. The oscilla-tions shown in Figs. 3 and 4 are relaxational in nature, and bothbacteria and nutrient display pronounced spikes. In a similarstudy, Fowler (2013) found that the spikes are due to the (weaklydamped) nonlinear oscillator in (2.13) having high values of theenergy level

E¼ 12_θ2þeθ�θ; ð3:1Þ

and the solutions can be determined asymptotically for Eb1. Thisnaturally leads to the conjecture that a similar limit explains thespiky oscillations here, but the question would then be why suchhigh energy oscillators occur. The most obvious suggestion is thatthe two oscillators in (2.19) resonate, but the matter is opaque.

The second feature is that the spikes are reminiscent of thenitrate spike in Fig. 1, and this raises the possibility that a singlespike could occur through a similar kinetics, except that thesystem is excitable rather than oscillatorily unstable, as forexample in the Fitzhugh–Nagumo equations. In this case, theunrepeated nitrate spike may result from aerobic ammonia oxida-tion at the limit of the oxic zone, though it is notable that NHþ

4 isnot entirely removed in the reaction as one might expect for aclassical reaction front. As we said earlier, this spike might well bean outlier; but it might not. In any event it is a measured datapoint, and worth further consideration. Our philosophy is thatwhat you see is what there is.

Acknowledgments

A.C.F. acknowledges the support of the Mathematics Applica-tions Consortium for Science and Industry (www.macsi.ul.ie)funded by the Science Foundation Ireland mathematics initiativegrant 12/IA/1683. This publication has emanated from researchconducted with the financial support of Science Foundation Irelandunder Grant No. 09/IN.1/I2645.

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Fig. 4. Time series of c and h corresponding to the trajectory in Fig. 3.

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