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Ammonia oxidation by microorganisms is a critical process in the nitrogen cycle. Recent research results show that ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are both abundant and diverse in a range of ecosystems. In this study, we examined the abundance and diversity of AOA and ammonia-oxidizing beta-proteobacteria (AOB) in estuarine sediments in Hong Kong for two seasons using the ammonia monooxygenase A subunit gene (amoA) as molecular biomarker. Relationships between diversity and abundance of AOA and AOB and physicochemical parameters were also explored. AOB were more diverse but less abundant than AOA. A few phylogenetically distinct amoA gene clusters were evident for both AOA and AOB from the mangrove sediment. Pearson moment correlation analysis and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) were used to explore physicochemical parameters potentially important to AOA …