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The Impact of Variable DOC Concentrations on Acidification Assessments

Stadmark, Johanna LU ; Moldan, Filip ; Jutterström, Sara and Cosby, Bernard J. (2025) In Ecosystems 28(1).
Abstract

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) affects the acidity in soil and lake waters and buffers both against acidification and against recovery from acidification. Current acidification assessments, based on the widely used MAGIC (Model of Acidification of Groundwater In Catchments) model, often assume constant DOC concentrations through time, but observations suggest this assumption may not be warranted. Here we used MAGIC to investigate the effect of four different scenarios of variable DOC concentrations on acidification assessments of 75 Swedish lakes during peak acidification (1980), in the recent past (2012) and the near future (2030). In all scenarios, DOC concentrations varied to the same extent in soil and lake waters, so the effects of... (More)

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) affects the acidity in soil and lake waters and buffers both against acidification and against recovery from acidification. Current acidification assessments, based on the widely used MAGIC (Model of Acidification of Groundwater In Catchments) model, often assume constant DOC concentrations through time, but observations suggest this assumption may not be warranted. Here we used MAGIC to investigate the effect of four different scenarios of variable DOC concentrations on acidification assessments of 75 Swedish lakes during peak acidification (1980), in the recent past (2012) and the near future (2030). In all scenarios, DOC concentrations varied to the same extent in soil and lake waters, so the effects of DOC on soil cation exchange and water acid–base chemistry were accounted for. To capture the possible span of the variable DOC effects, modelled variations covered a large range of concentration levels suggested by earlier studies. A higher proportion of the modelled lakes in the scenarios with variable DOC concentrations were assessed as acidified at the time of peak acidification compared to in the scenario with constant DOC concentration. In 2012 and 2030, the proportion of acidified lakes was in the same range regardless of historical and future DOC scenarios. This means that for management purposes, the MAGIC model with constant DOC concentration assessed the extent of acidification for the recent past and near future without bias.

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author
; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Acid-sensitive lakes, Dissolved organic carbon, MAGIC model, Monitoring data, Recovery from acidification, Surface waters, Trend lakes
in
Ecosystems
volume
28
issue
1
article number
2
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85214092108
ISSN
1432-9840
DOI
10.1007/s10021-024-00950-9
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024.
id
12c03899-1bf7-45dd-8610-f020aba65f6e
date added to LUP
2025-04-02 09:52:36
date last changed
2025-04-03 11:11:55
@article{12c03899-1bf7-45dd-8610-f020aba65f6e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) affects the acidity in soil and lake waters and buffers both against acidification and against recovery from acidification. Current acidification assessments, based on the widely used MAGIC (Model of Acidification of Groundwater In Catchments) model, often assume constant DOC concentrations through time, but observations suggest this assumption may not be warranted. Here we used MAGIC to investigate the effect of four different scenarios of variable DOC concentrations on acidification assessments of 75 Swedish lakes during peak acidification (1980), in the recent past (2012) and the near future (2030). In all scenarios, DOC concentrations varied to the same extent in soil and lake waters, so the effects of DOC on soil cation exchange and water acid–base chemistry were accounted for. To capture the possible span of the variable DOC effects, modelled variations covered a large range of concentration levels suggested by earlier studies. A higher proportion of the modelled lakes in the scenarios with variable DOC concentrations were assessed as acidified at the time of peak acidification compared to in the scenario with constant DOC concentration. In 2012 and 2030, the proportion of acidified lakes was in the same range regardless of historical and future DOC scenarios. This means that for management purposes, the MAGIC model with constant DOC concentration assessed the extent of acidification for the recent past and near future without bias.</p>}},
  author       = {{Stadmark, Johanna and Moldan, Filip and Jutterström, Sara and Cosby, Bernard J.}},
  issn         = {{1432-9840}},
  keywords     = {{Acid-sensitive lakes; Dissolved organic carbon; MAGIC model; Monitoring data; Recovery from acidification; Surface waters; Trend lakes}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Ecosystems}},
  title        = {{The Impact of Variable DOC Concentrations on Acidification Assessments}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10021-024-00950-9}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10021-024-00950-9}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}