Reactivity continuum of dissolved organic carbon decomposition in lake water

• We determined microbial decomposition of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) over 3.7-year long dark bioassays of six Swedish lake waters. The overall lost DOC fraction was similar in clearwater lakes (34.8 {plus minus} 2.4%) and brownwater lakes (37.8 {plus minus} 1.9%). Reactivity continuum modeling revealed that the most labile DOC fraction, degrading at rates >0.01 day-1, was larger in the clearwater (11.1 {plus minus} 1.2%) than the brownwater lakes (0.8 {plus minus} 0.1%). The initial apparent first-order decay coefficients k was fivefold larger in the clearwater (0.0043 {plus minus} 0.0012 day-1) than the brownwater lakes (0.0009 {plus minus} 0.0003 day-1). Over time, k decreased more steeply in the clearwater than the brownwater lakes, reaching the k of the brownwater lakes within five months. Finally, k averaged 0.0001 day-1 in both lake categories. In the brownwater lakes, CDOM absorption decayed with an initial k twice as large (0.0018 {plus minus} 0.0008 day-1) as that of DOC. The initial k was inversely correlated with initial specific UV absorption and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) absorption, and positively correlated with initial tryptophan-like fluorescence as proxy for autochthonous DOC. Exposure to simulated sunlight at the end of the incubations caused loss of color in the clearwater lakes and loss of DOC in the brownwater lakes, where subsequent mineralization was also stimulated. The DOC lost in the absence of photochemical processes fell below previously reported watershed-scale losses in Sweden by 25% at most. This suggests that a major part of the in situ DOC loss could potentially be attributed to dark reactions alone.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Ecology (hsv//eng)

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