Ecosystem Consequences of Changing Inputs of Terrestrial Dissolved Organic Matter to Lakes: Current Knowledge and Future Challenges

Solomon, Christopher T.; Jones, Stuart; Weidel, Brian C.; Buffam, Ishi; Fork, Megan L.; Karlsson, Jan; Larsen, Søren E.; Lennon, Jay T.; Read, Jordan S.; Sadro, Steven; Saros, Jasmine E.

doi:10.1007/s10021-015-9848-y

Cited by 429 publications

(443 citation statements)

References 117 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

421

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Recent concerns have been raised regarding widespread increases in color and DOC concentrations in the Northern Hemisphere caused by a combination of factors involving a warmer climate (Lepistö et al, 2014;Pagano et al, 2014), an intensified hydrological cycle (Weyhenmeyer et al, 2012;Fasching et al, 2016), and the release of DOC previously immobilized in soils due to acidification (Monteith et al, 2007). This rise in colored DOC, reviewed by Solomon et al (2015), is predicted to reduce aquatic productivity (Karlsson et al, 2009), change food webs and population structures , alter the stoichiometry and magnitude of bioavailable nutrients pools (Berggren et al, 2015b), and cause increased freshwater CO 2 outgassing (Lapierre et al, 2013). Thus, water color is key to understanding fundamental aspects of aquatic ecosystem functioning in a changing environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality transformation of dissolved organic carbon during water transit through lakes: contrasting controls by photochemical and biological processes

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) may be removed, transformed, or added during water transit through lakes, resulting in changes in DOC composition and pigmentation (color). However, the process-based understanding of these changes is incomplete, especially for headwater lakes. We hypothesized that because heterotrophic bacteria preferentially consume noncolored DOC, while photochemical processing removes colored fractions, the overall changes in DOC color upon water passage through a lake depend on the relative importance of these two processes, accordingly. To test this hypothesis we combined laboratory experiments with field studies in nine boreal lakes, assessing both the relative importance of different DOC decay processes (biological or photochemical) and the loss of color during water transit time (WTT) through the lakes. We found that influence from photo-decay dominated changes in DOC quality in the epilimnia of relatively clear headwater lakes, resulting in systematic and selective net losses of colored DOC. However, in highly pigmented brown-water lakes (absorbance at 420 nm > 7 m −1 ) biological processes dominated, and there was no systematic relationship between color loss and WTT. Moreover, in situ data and dark experiments supported our hypothesis on the selective microbial removal of nonpigmented DOC, mainly of low molecular weight, leading to persistent water color in these highly colored lakes. Our study shows that brown headwater lakes may not conform to the commonly reported pattern of the selective removal of colored constituents in freshwaters, as DOC can show a sustained degree of pigmentation upon transit through these lakes.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality transformation of dissolved organic carbon during water transit through lakes: contrasting controls by photochemical and biological processes

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…DOM consists of a combination of organic molecules containing carbon and nutrients which can be seen as a correlation between total organic carbon (TOC), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) (Mattsson et al 2003; Kortelainen et al 2006). The fact that TOC is a source of energy (Keskitalo and Eloranta 1999;Wiegner and Seitzinger 2001;Hanson et al 2003) has many physical, chemical and biological implications for aquatic ecosystems (Keskitalo and Eloranta 1999;Solomon et al 2015). When present in lakes, TOC affects transparency and thereby the temperature and thermal stratification of lake (Keskitalo and Eloranta 1999;Findlay and Sinsabaugh 2003) and the structure of aquatic food webs (Jansson et al 2000;Kankaala et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting the export and concentrations of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in boreal lakes by catchment characteristics and land use: A practical approach

Palviainen

Laurén

Launiainen

et al. 2016

Ambio

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The majority of C, N and P in boreal lakes are in organic form. Organically bound nutrients are released through biodegradation or photodegradation which affects the water quality, eutrophication and greenhouse gas emissions of lakes. We tested whether open land-use data combined with land-use-specific export coefficients can be used to predict total organic carbon (TOC), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) loading and lake water concentrations. Using data from 12 lake catchments in eastern Finland, we found that land use and management of the catchment explained a substantial proportion of the variations in TOC (r 2 = 0.78), DON (r 2 = 0.55) and DOP (r 2 = 0.80) concentrations between lakes. The computation does not account for in-lake processes, which are reflected as mismatch between the predicted and observed concentrations. However, this simple practical approach is useful in ranking lakes according to their water quality. The results indicated that natural sources dominate TOC, DON and DOP exports; the background leachings accounted for 57-99 %, 48-96 % and 55-99 % of TOC, DON and DOP export, respectively. The proposed method has promise as a practical decision support tool for assessing the impacts of land use on water quality. The results showed that possibilities to control TOC, DON and DOP loading to surface waters are limited to catchments where the peatland proportion is low and anthropogenic sources significant.

show abstract

“…However, no or very few studies have taken a whole-ecosystem approach and looked simultaneously at both the terrestrial and the aquatic ecosystems of the Arctic landscape. Hence, there is a need for studies that take such a holistic approach in order to better understand how biogeochemical processes are connected (Solomon et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeochemical data from terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in a periglacial catchment, West Greenland

Lindborg

Rydberg

Tröjbom

et al. 2016

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Global warming is expected to be most pronounced in the Arctic where permafrost thaw and release of old carbon may provide an important feedback mechanism to the climate system. To better understand and predict climate effects and feedbacks on the cycling of elements within and between ecosystems in northern latitude landscapes, a thorough understanding of the processes related to transport and cycling of elements is required. A fundamental requirement to reach a better process understanding is to have access to high-quality empirical data on chemical concentrations and biotic properties for a wide range of ecosystem domains and functional units (abiotic and biotic pools). The aim of this study is therefore to make one of the most extensive field data sets from a periglacial catchment readily available that can be used both to describe present-day periglacial processes and to improve predictions of the future. Here we present the sampling and analytical methods, field and laboratory equipment and the resulting biogeochemical data from a state-of-the-art whole-ecosystem investigation of the terrestrial and aquatic parts of a lake catchment in the Kangerlussuaq region, West Greenland. This data set allows for the calculation of whole-ecosystem mass balance budgets for a long list of elements, including carbon, nutrients and major and trace metals. The data set is freely available and can be downloaded from PANGAEA:

show abstract

Ecosystem Consequences of Changing Inputs of Terrestrial Dissolved Organic Matter to Lakes: Current Knowledge and Future Challenges

Cited by 429 publications

References 117 publications

Quality transformation of dissolved organic carbon during water transit through lakes: contrasting controls by photochemical and biological processes

Quality transformation of dissolved organic carbon during water transit through lakes: contrasting controls by photochemical and biological processes

Predicting the export and concentrations of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in boreal lakes by catchment characteristics and land use: A practical approach

Biogeochemical data from terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in a periglacial catchment, West Greenland

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About