A study of the respiration and microflora of the mud of the heathcote river, Christchurch

Plate counts and CO2 respiration rates for various added substrates were measured for samples of mud from the lower reaches of the Heathcote River, Christchurch. All samples tested contained large populations of aerobic and anaerobic micro-organisms able to metabolize glucose, succinate and benzoate. Our results suggest that the availability o of utilizable carbon was the ma major limitin or limiting factor for cell growth.