Fölster, Jens
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2021Peer reviewedOpen access
Cleaner air reveals growing influence of climate on dissolved organic carbon trends in northern headwaters
de Wit, Heleen A.; Stoddard, John L.; Monteith, Donald T.; Sample, James E.; Austnes, Kari; Couture, Suzanne; Folster, Jens; Higgins, Scott N.; Houle, Daniel; Hruska, Jakub; Kram, Pavel; Kopacek, Jiri; Paterson, Andrew M.; Valinia, Salar; Van Dam, Herman; Vuorenmaa, Jussi; Evans, Chris D.
Abstract
Surface water browning, the result of increasing concentrations of dissolved organic matter (DOM), has been widespread in northern ecosystems in recent decades. Here, we assess a database of 426 undisturbed headwater lakes and streams in Europe and North America for evidence of trends in DOM between 1990 and 2016. We describe contrasting changes in DOM trends in Europe (decelerating) and North America (accelerating), which are consistent with organic matter solubility responses to declines in sulfate deposition. While earlier trends (1990-2004) were almost entirely related to changes in atmospheric chemistry, climatic and chemical drivers were equally important in explaining recent DOM trends (2002-2016). We estimate that riverine DOM export from northern ecosystems increased by 27% during the study period. Increased summer precipitation strengthened upward dissolved organic carbon trends while warming apparently damped browning. Our results suggest strong but changing influences of air quality and climate on the terrestrial carbon cycle, and on the magnitude of carbon export from land to water.
Keywords
sulfate deposition; carbon cycle; precipitation; catchment DOC export; surface water browning; organic matter solubility
Published in
Environmental Research Letters
2021, volume: 16, number: 10, article number: 104009
Publisher: IOP PUBLISHING LTD
SLU Authors
Valinia, Salar
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA)
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Evans, Christopher
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH)
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
UKÄ Subject classification
Environmental Sciences
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac2526
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/113803