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Seasonal contribution of terrestrial organic matter and biological oxygen demand to the Baltic Sea from three contrasting river catchments

Reader, Heather LU ; Stedmon, C. A. and Kritzberg, Emma LU (2014) In Biogeosciences 11(12). p.3409-3419
Abstract
To examine the potential influence of terrestrially derived DOM on the Baltic Sea, a year-long study of dissolved organic matter (DOM) was performed in three river catchments in Sweden. One catchment drains into the Bothnian Sea, while two southern catchments drain into the Baltic proper. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations were positively correlated with discharge from forested catchments over the year. While the overall concentrations of DOC were several times higher in the southern two catchments, higher discharge in the northern catchment resulted in the annual loadings of DOC being on the same order of magnitude for all three catchments. Biological oxygen demand (BOD) was used as a proxy for the lability of carbon in the... (More)
To examine the potential influence of terrestrially derived DOM on the Baltic Sea, a year-long study of dissolved organic matter (DOM) was performed in three river catchments in Sweden. One catchment drains into the Bothnian Sea, while two southern catchments drain into the Baltic proper. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations were positively correlated with discharge from forested catchments over the year. While the overall concentrations of DOC were several times higher in the southern two catchments, higher discharge in the northern catchment resulted in the annual loadings of DOC being on the same order of magnitude for all three catchments. Biological oxygen demand (BOD) was used as a proxy for the lability of carbon in the system. The range of BOD values was similar for all three catchments, however, the ratio of BOD to DOC (an indication of the labile fraction) in Ume river was four times higher than in the southern two catchments. Total annual BOD loading to the Baltic Sea was twice as high in the northern catchment than in the two southern catchments. Lower winter temperatures and preservation of organic matter in the northern catchment combined with an intense spring flood help to explain the higher concentrations of labile carbon in the northern catchment. Lower lability of DOM as well as higher colour in the southern catchments suggest that wetlands (i.e. peat bogs) may be the dominant source of DOM in these catchments, particularly in periods of low flow. With climate change expected to increase precipitation events and temperatures across the region, the supply and quality of DOM delivered to the Baltic Sea can also be expected to change. Our results indicate that DOM supply to the Baltic Sea from boreal rivers will be more stable throughout the year, and potentially have a lower bioavailability. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Biogeosciences
volume
11
issue
12
pages
3409 - 3419
publisher
Copernicus GmbH
external identifiers
  • wos:000338761200022
  • scopus:84903641366
ISSN
1726-4189
DOI
10.5194/bg-11-3409-2014
project
MICCS - Molecular Interactions Controlling soil Carbon Sequestration
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6a77c87b-6bdb-45f8-a8f2-620babf127e2 (old id 4602527)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:58:18
date last changed
2022-01-26 04:20:10
@article{6a77c87b-6bdb-45f8-a8f2-620babf127e2,
  abstract     = {{To examine the potential influence of terrestrially derived DOM on the Baltic Sea, a year-long study of dissolved organic matter (DOM) was performed in three river catchments in Sweden. One catchment drains into the Bothnian Sea, while two southern catchments drain into the Baltic proper. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations were positively correlated with discharge from forested catchments over the year. While the overall concentrations of DOC were several times higher in the southern two catchments, higher discharge in the northern catchment resulted in the annual loadings of DOC being on the same order of magnitude for all three catchments. Biological oxygen demand (BOD) was used as a proxy for the lability of carbon in the system. The range of BOD values was similar for all three catchments, however, the ratio of BOD to DOC (an indication of the labile fraction) in Ume river was four times higher than in the southern two catchments. Total annual BOD loading to the Baltic Sea was twice as high in the northern catchment than in the two southern catchments. Lower winter temperatures and preservation of organic matter in the northern catchment combined with an intense spring flood help to explain the higher concentrations of labile carbon in the northern catchment. Lower lability of DOM as well as higher colour in the southern catchments suggest that wetlands (i.e. peat bogs) may be the dominant source of DOM in these catchments, particularly in periods of low flow. With climate change expected to increase precipitation events and temperatures across the region, the supply and quality of DOM delivered to the Baltic Sea can also be expected to change. Our results indicate that DOM supply to the Baltic Sea from boreal rivers will be more stable throughout the year, and potentially have a lower bioavailability.}},
  author       = {{Reader, Heather and Stedmon, C. A. and Kritzberg, Emma}},
  issn         = {{1726-4189}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{3409--3419}},
  publisher    = {{Copernicus GmbH}},
  series       = {{Biogeosciences}},
  title        = {{Seasonal contribution of terrestrial organic matter and biological oxygen demand to the Baltic Sea from three contrasting river catchments}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-3409-2014}},
  doi          = {{10.5194/bg-11-3409-2014}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}