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Total waterborne carbon export and DOC composition from ten nested subarctic peatland catchments—importance of peatland cover, groundwater influence, and inter-annual variability of precipitation patterns

Olefeldt, David ; Roulet, Nigel ; Giesler, Reiner and Persson, Andreas LU (2013) In Hydrological Processes 27(16). p.2280-2294
Abstract
Waterborne carbon (C) export from terrestrial ecosystems is a potentially important flux for the net catchment C balance and links the biogeochemical C cycling of terrestrial ecosystems to their downstream aquatic ecosystems. We have monitored hydrology and stream chemistry over 3 years in ten nested catchments (0.6–15.1 km2) with variable peatland cover (0%–22%) and groundwater influence in subarctic Sweden. Total waterborne C export, including dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOC and POC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), ranged between 2.8 and 7.3 g m–2 year–1, representing ~10%–30% of catchment net ecosystem exchange of CO2. Several characteristics of catchment waterborne C export were affected by interacting effects of... (More)
Waterborne carbon (C) export from terrestrial ecosystems is a potentially important flux for the net catchment C balance and links the biogeochemical C cycling of terrestrial ecosystems to their downstream aquatic ecosystems. We have monitored hydrology and stream chemistry over 3 years in ten nested catchments (0.6–15.1 km2) with variable peatland cover (0%–22%) and groundwater influence in subarctic Sweden. Total waterborne C export, including dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOC and POC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), ranged between 2.8 and 7.3 g m–2 year–1, representing ~10%–30% of catchment net ecosystem exchange of CO2. Several characteristics of catchment waterborne C export were affected by interacting effects of peatland cover and groundwater influence, including magnitude and timing, partitioning into DOC, POC, and DIC and chemical composition of the exported DOC. Waterborne C export was greater during the wetter years, equivalent to an average change in export of ~2 g m–2 year–1 per 100 mm of precipitation. Wetter years led to a greater relative increase in DIC export than DOC export due to an inferred relative shift in dominance from shallow organic flow pathways to groundwater sources. Indices of DOC composition (SUVA254 and a250/a365) indicated that DOC aromaticity and average molecular weight increased with catchment peatland cover and decreased with increased groundwater influence. Our results provide examples on how waterborne C export and DOC composition might be affected by climate change. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
dissolved organic carbon (DOC), peatlands, discontinuous permafrost, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), subarctic, groundwater
in
Hydrological Processes
volume
27
issue
16
pages
15 pages
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • wos:000329430400005
  • scopus:84880252979
ISSN
1099-1085
DOI
10.1002/hyp.9358
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8e9c7549-b068-4131-833c-b14bea5d6715 (old id 3168221)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:20:55
date last changed
2022-04-04 17:12:10
@article{8e9c7549-b068-4131-833c-b14bea5d6715,
  abstract     = {{Waterborne carbon (C) export from terrestrial ecosystems is a potentially important flux for the net catchment C balance and links the biogeochemical C cycling of terrestrial ecosystems to their downstream aquatic ecosystems. We have monitored hydrology and stream chemistry over 3 years in ten nested catchments (0.6–15.1 km2) with variable peatland cover (0%–22%) and groundwater influence in subarctic Sweden. Total waterborne C export, including dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOC and POC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), ranged between 2.8 and 7.3 g m–2 year–1, representing ~10%–30% of catchment net ecosystem exchange of CO2. Several characteristics of catchment waterborne C export were affected by interacting effects of peatland cover and groundwater influence, including magnitude and timing, partitioning into DOC, POC, and DIC and chemical composition of the exported DOC. Waterborne C export was greater during the wetter years, equivalent to an average change in export of ~2 g m–2 year–1 per 100 mm of precipitation. Wetter years led to a greater relative increase in DIC export than DOC export due to an inferred relative shift in dominance from shallow organic flow pathways to groundwater sources. Indices of DOC composition (SUVA254 and a250/a365) indicated that DOC aromaticity and average molecular weight increased with catchment peatland cover and decreased with increased groundwater influence. Our results provide examples on how waterborne C export and DOC composition might be affected by climate change. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.}},
  author       = {{Olefeldt, David and Roulet, Nigel and Giesler, Reiner and Persson, Andreas}},
  issn         = {{1099-1085}},
  keywords     = {{dissolved organic carbon (DOC); peatlands; discontinuous permafrost; dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC); subarctic; groundwater}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{16}},
  pages        = {{2280--2294}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Hydrological Processes}},
  title        = {{Total waterborne carbon export and DOC composition from ten nested subarctic peatland catchments—importance of peatland cover, groundwater influence, and inter-annual variability of precipitation patterns}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9358}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/hyp.9358}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}