Hydrological and catchment controls on event‐scale dissolved organic carbon dynamics in boreal headwater streams

Ducharme, Adrienne; Casson, Nora J.; Higgins, Scott N.; Friesen-Hughes, Karl

doi:10.1002/hyp.14279

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Overall, analyses presented in this study leveraged newly available tools for quasi‐automated rainfall‐runoff event delineation that increase opportunities for evaluating long‐term data at different timescales. Climate projections for this region include longer snow‐free seasons, and increased frequency and intensity of storms and droughts (Collins et al., 2013) which will alter hydrological dynamics and solute transport across the heterogeneous landscape of the boreal (Ducharme et al., 2021). These results demonstrate the need for long‐term, high frequency hydrometric and chemical data collection in order to understand how shifting storm behavior may alter solute transport in these sensitive ecosystems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking Dominant Rainfall‐Runoff Event Hydrologic Response Dynamics With Nitrate and Chloride Load Estimates of Three Boreal Shield Catchments

2021

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Main point #1: Rainfall-runoff event analysis at boreal Shield catchments indicated significant temporal variability in hydrologic response & solute export Main point #2: Leveraging newly available tools for quasi-automated rainfall-runoff event delineation allows new insights to be gleaned from long-term data Main point #3: Classes of rainfall-runoff events characterized by response magnitude & timing are associated with significant differences in solute export Plain Language SummaryThe boreal region is a vast mosaic of freshwater resources, including wetlands, streams and lakes. The movement of water and solutes through catchments in this region is very sensitive to climate change, making it critical to understand the controls on these processes. Rainfall events are very important for transporting water and solutes from catchments to streams, and are particularly sensitive to changes in climate. It is difficult to understand event-scale dynamics since long records and high-frequency datasets are not common, and take a long time to process. The goal of this study was to look at event-scale chloride and nitrate dynamics from a long-term study site using recently-developed tools for delineating events. There was a lot of variability in streamflow responses to events, and summer and fall events were somewhat similar. There was a wide range of nitrate and chloride export associated with events, and some of the variability had to do not just with the magnitude of the event, but also with the timing. This study highlights the value of collecting high-frequency datasets at long-term study sites in order to understand the impacts of climate change in the boreal region.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking Dominant Rainfall‐Runoff Event Hydrologic Response Dynamics With Nitrate and Chloride Load Estimates of Three Boreal Shield Catchments

2021

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“…We classified c ‐ Q relationships based on three responses from the slope ( β ) of the log c ‐log specific Q regression: (a) “up,” classified as transport‐limited ( β is positive), (b) “down,” classified as source‐limited ( β is negative), and (c) “flat,” classified as constant ( β ≈ 0, Ducharme et al., 2021; Moatar et al., 2017; Musolff et al., 2017). Positive slopes ( β > 0) occur when solute concentrations increase with discharge and this is described as transport‐limited because delivery to the stream is dependent on the capacity of the catchment to move a solute and not by the availability or production of the solute.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, we defined a dilution response as β less than 0 and enrichment response as β above 0, but only when the relationship was significant ( p < 0.05) and the r 2 was high (Zimmer et al., 2019). We further defined weak responses when c ‐ Q relationship was significant ( p < 0.05) but the r 2 was low (Bieroza et al., 2018; Ducharme et al., 2021). Finally, we used the ratio of the coefficients of variation between concentration and discharge (CV C /CV Q ) to characterize whether export regimes are chemostatic or chemodynamic.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that c ‐ Q relationships reflect how solutes are stored and mobilized on land, it is not surprising that the resulting metrics are also sensitive to the details of catchment structure, as well as to the temporal scales of assessment. For example, across northern boreal landscapes, we know that differences in forest, wetland, and lake cover can determine whether stream DOC is constant or dynamic with changes in flow, based on how these different patches store carbon and/or convey water (Ducharme et al., 2021; Fork et al., 2020; Laudon et al., 2011). By comparison, we know less about how the same factors influence c ‐ Q relationships for different forms of N and P in these remote landscapes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Concentration‐Discharge Patterns Reveal Catchment Controls Over the Stoichiometry of Carbon and Nutrient Supply to Boreal Streams

et al. 2023

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Carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) export from catchments is strongly regulated by interactions between hydrological flowpaths and their terrestrial use/storage. While concentration‐discharge (c‐Q) relationships have been widely used to understand this interplay for C, N, and P individually, how flow regulates the relative supply of these resources across spatial and temporal scales is not well documented. Here, we analyze c‐Q relationships from 12 years of data to test how seasonal flow regulates the concentrations of inorganic N (Dissolved inorganic nitrogen [DIN]) and P (Dissolved inorganic phosphorus [DIP]), dissolved organic N (DON) and C (dissolved organic carbon [DOC]) and their respective ratios across 12 streams in a boreal landscape. We observed opposing c‐Q relationships between organic and inorganic solutes. DOC and DON tended toward transport limitation with little year‐to‐year change, whereas ammonium (NH4) and DIP were increasingly source limited over time. These different c‐Q relationships translated into large (up to three‐fold) shifts in resource ratios (e.g., DOC:DIN) in response to changes in flow. Our results also highlight strong influences of catchment structure on c‐Q patterns, regardless of solute, season, and longer‐term directional changes. Here, the organic solute c‐Q responses became less transport limited over time; while inorganic solute responses became less source limited with increasing mire/decreasing forest cover. Overall, differences in timing of catchment exports for C, N, and P, create dynamic variation in solute concentrations in streams with subsequent impacts on resource stoichiometry that is central to aquatic ecological processes.

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“…Samples sizes for seasonal scale C -Q relationships ranged from 32 (Summer, drier-than-average P -PET) to 286 (Spring, wetter-than-average P -PET). These values equal or exceed those used to derive C -Q relationships for recent inter-catchment comparisons (e.g.,Cartwright et al, 2020;Creed et al, 2015;Ducharme et al, 2021;Musolff et al, 2015).…”

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confidence: 99%

Persistent chemostatic behaviour of stream solutes in a northern hardwood forest under climatic and atmospheric deposition changes

McPhail

Buttle

Webster

et al. 2023

Hydrological Processes

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Concentration – discharge (C – Q) relationships in streamflow can serve a variety of purposes, including elucidating catchment water sources, quantifying chemical weathering, and estimating solute fluxes. Four main C – Q relationships have been identified: dilution (decreasing C with increasing Q), flushing (increasing C with increasing Q), chemostatic (little or no change in C with increasing Q) and chemostochastic (great variation in C relative to that of Q) behaviour. We used a 40‐year data record for 10 headwater forested catchments in central Ontario, Canada, to examine C – Q relationships for a range of geogenic, exogenic and bioactive solutes. The thin overburden cover of this landscape and general absence of deep groundwater contributions to streamflow suggest that streamflow solute concentrations and their relationship with discharge would be sensitive to pronounced changes in climate and atmospheric deposition chemistry over the monitoring period. We explored the temporal and spatial stability of C – Q relationships in response to these changes at annual and seasonal timescales for relatively wet and dry conditions and for periods with relatively high and low atmospheric deposition. Chemostasis dominated C – Q relationships at the annual and seasonal scales for geogenic (e.g., SiO2) and exogenic (e.g., Cl−) solutes, although bioactive solutes (e.g., NO3−, NH4+) exhibited non‐chemostatic behaviour for some catchments, time periods and wetness conditions. C – Q relationships derived at the annual timescale often masked pronounced seasonal shifts in bioactive solute concentration response to changes in streamflow and provide only partial insight into the production and delivery of such solutes in this forest landscape. Relatively subtle changes in overburden thickness across this landscape appeared to explain some of the deviations from widespread chemostasis. Nevertheless, this general chemostatic behaviour was largely temporally stable across catchments and solutes, highlighting its resilience in the face of such non‐stationary influences as climate conditions and atmospheric deposition.

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Hydrological and catchment controls on event‐scale dissolved organic carbon dynamics in boreal headwater streams

Cited by 22 publications

References 85 publications

Linking Dominant Rainfall‐Runoff Event Hydrologic Response Dynamics With Nitrate and Chloride Load Estimates of Three Boreal Shield Catchments

Linking Dominant Rainfall‐Runoff Event Hydrologic Response Dynamics With Nitrate and Chloride Load Estimates of Three Boreal Shield Catchments

Concentration‐Discharge Patterns Reveal Catchment Controls Over the Stoichiometry of Carbon and Nutrient Supply to Boreal Streams

Persistent chemostatic behaviour of stream solutes in a northern hardwood forest under climatic and atmospheric deposition changes

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