Seasonal changes in light availability modify the temperature dependence of ecosystem metabolism in an arctic stream

Huryn, Alexander D.; Benstead, Jonathan P.; Parker, Stephanie M.

doi:10.1890/13-1963.1

Cited by 58 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 68 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The groundwater impact on water temperature at the open site was also likely responsible for the negative correlation between water temperature and GPP. The positive relationship of PAR with GPP even with a negative relationship between water temperature and GPP supports the idea that PAR has a greater control on GPP than water temperature (Mulholland et al 2001;Bernot et al 2010;Huryn et al 2014). GPP was not correlated with water depth or discharge.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The influence of riparian vegetation and season on stream metabolism of Valley Creek, Minnesota

Hornbach

Beckel

Hustad

et al. 2015

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change will undoubtedly influence stream ecosystems by affecting water temperature, discharge, and riparian vegetation phenology. It has been suggested that increasing the extent of riparian buffers may help to mitigate these impacts and contribute to ecosystem resilience. Measures of stream metabolism are one way to examine the changes in ecosystem function as they respond to climate change and management strategies used to respond to these impacts. In this study we examine the influence of riparian vegetation (open vs. forest) and season on ecosystem metabolism in a small stream in MN, USA. The stream was heterotrophic regardless of the type of riparian vegetation but the presence of a forested buffer depressed gross primary production (GPP) and also resulted in lower (less negative) ecosystem respiration (ER) and net ecosystem production (NEP). We also found significant daily and seasonal variation in GPP, ER, and NEP. Stream metabolism was more variable in the fall than in the summer. The study design was complicated by the fact that there were differences in groundwater dynamics between the two locations; the forested location was a losing stream while the open location was a gaining stream. Despite the fact that groundwater input likely influenced the oxygen dynamics of the open location, the impact of the forest buffer outweighed the impact of groundwater. The presence of a forested riparian corridor resulted in decreased GPP likely through the attenuation of light. The low O 2 groundwater input at the open location likely biased measures of ER and NEP. Modifying stream corridors with increased forest vegetation to offset the impacts of climate change will likely result in less in-stream primary production and a shift to a more heterotrophic system. This shift will undoubtedly influence many ecosystem functions in-stream systems.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…Nutrient availability and GPP are tightly coupled in many systems (Hall & Tank 2003;Cohen et al 2013;Huryn et al 2014). In our study we examined periphyton growth in the fall using nutrient diffusing substrates to test nutrient limitation in relation to GPP.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of riparian vegetation and season on stream metabolism of Valley Creek, Minnesota

Hornbach

Beckel

Hustad

et al. 2015

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Most 1 st and 2 nd stream order stream metabolism studies are located in very different climatic zones and landscapes, for example in arctic climates [60,64] and forested landscapes (c.f. [5,71]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuous Dissolved Oxygen Measurements and Modelling Metabolism in Peatland Streams

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stream water dissolved oxygen was monitored in a 3.2km2 moorland headwater catchment in the Scottish Highlands. The stream consists of three 1st order headwaters and a 2nd order main stem. The stream network is fringed by peat soils with no riparian trees, though dwarf shrubs provide shading in the lower catchment. Dissolved oxygen (DO) is regulated by the balance between atmospheric re-aeration and the metabolic processes of photosynthesis and respiration. DO was continuously measured for >1 year and the data used to calibrate a mass balance model, to estimate primary production, respiration and re-aeration for a 1st order site and in the 2nd order main stem. Results showed that the stream was always heterotrophic at both sites. Sites were most heterotrophic in the summer reflecting higher levels of stream metabolism. The 1st order stream appeared more heterotrophic which was consistent with the evident greater biomass of macrophytes in the 2nd order stream, with resulting higher primary productivity. Comparison between respiration, primary production, re-aeration and potential physical controls revealed only weak relationships. However, the most basic model parameters (e.g. the parameter linking light and photosynthesis) controlling ecosystem processes resulted in significant differences between the sites which seem related to the stream channel geometry.

show abstract

“…A first wave of sensor‐enabled studies using this modeling approach clearly documented that light availability and flooding are dominant and countervailing drivers of river ecosystem productivity (Uehlinger and Naegeli ; Houser et al ; Roberts et al ; Izagirre et al ; Beaulieu et al ; Hope et al ; Huryn et al ; Roley et al ). In contrast to lakes there is thus far limited evidence that nutrient availability controls metabolic rates in rivers (Hoellein et al ; Solomon et al ).…”

Section: What Do We Know So Far?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The metabolic regimes of flowing waters

Bernhardt

Heffernan

Grimm

et al. 2017

Limnology & Oceanography

282

301

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The processes and biomass that characterize any ecosystem are fundamentally constrained by the total amount of energy that is either fixed within or delivered across its boundaries. Ultimately, ecosystems may be understood and classified by their rates of total and net productivity and by the seasonal patterns of photosynthesis and respiration. Such understanding is well developed for terrestrial and lentic ecosystems but our understanding of ecosystem phenology has lagged well behind for rivers. The proliferation of reliable and inexpensive sensors for monitoring dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide is underpinning a revolution in our understanding of the ecosystem energetics of rivers. Here, we synthesize our current understanding of the drivers and constraints on river metabolism, and set out a research agenda aimed at characterizing, classifying and modeling the current and future metabolic regimes of flowing waters.The fuel that powers almost all of Earth's ecosystems is created by organisms capable of the alchemy of photosynthesis, in which solar energy, water, and carbon dioxide are converted into reduced carbon compounds that are then used to sustain life. We measure this conversion of solar energy into organic energy as the gross primary productivity (GPP) of ecosystems. The collective dissipation of this organic energy through organismal metabolism (of both autotrophs and heterotrophs) is measured as ecosystem respiration (ER). Together, GPP and ER are the fundamental metabolic rates of ecosystems that constrain the energy supply and energy dissipation through food chains, and the balance of these two fluxes, measured as net ecosystem production (NEP), determines whether carbon accumulates or is depleted within an ecosystem. Terrestrial ecosystems often have predictable annual cycles, with both GPP and NEP typically peaking during warmer and wetter months of the year. In many well-studied lakes productivity peaks when warming temperatures, lengthening days, and high nutrient concentrations occur in concert. The life cycles of many consumers are likely synchronized to these seasonal oscillations such that periods of peak energetic demand by consumers coincide with or follow the peak productivity of their preferred plant or prey (e.g., Lampert et al. 1986;Berger et al. 2010). As a result, ecosystem respiration tends to

show abstract

Seasonal changes in light availability modify the temperature dependence of ecosystem metabolism in an arctic stream

Cited by 58 publications

References 68 publications

The influence of riparian vegetation and season on stream metabolism of Valley Creek, Minnesota

The influence of riparian vegetation and season on stream metabolism of Valley Creek, Minnesota

Continuous Dissolved Oxygen Measurements and Modelling Metabolism in Peatland Streams

The metabolic regimes of flowing waters

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About