Assessment of bacterial biomass in the highly contaminated urban Nanming River, Guiyang, SW China

High anthropogenic N loads and abundant bacteria are characteristic of highly contaminated urban rivers. To better understand the dispersal and accumulation of bacteria, we determined contents and isotopic compositions of suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM) and bacteria in a highly contaminated urban river (the Nanming) and effluents in winter and summer of 2013. Relative to SPOM, bacterial biomass in the river was depleted in 13C and 15N and its C/N ratio was lower (δ13C: − 33.2‰ ± 3.1‰; δ15N: − 1.5‰ ± 1.2‰; C/N: 4.8 ± 0.6), while effluents showed higher 13C and 15N contents and C/N ratios (δ13C: − 25‰ ± 2.1‰; δ15N: + 8.5‰ ± 1.1‰; C/N: 8.1 ± 1.2). Source recognition of SPOM was based on carbon isotopes because they are conservative and distinct between end-members (effluent detritus and bacterial biomass). Using a mixing model, bacterial biomass in the river was calculated to account for