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Research article2018Peer reviewedOpen access

Regional diversity of complex dissolved organic matter across forested hemiboreal headwater streams

Hawkes, Jeffrey A.; Radoman, Nikola; Bergquist, Jonas; Wallin, Marcus B.; Tranvik, Lars J.; Lofgren, Stefan

Abstract

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) from soils enters the aquatic environment via headwater streams. Thereafter, it is gradually transformed, removed by sedimentation, and mineralised. Due to the proximity to the terrestrial source and short water residence time, the extent of transformation is minimal in headwaters. DOM has variable composition across inland waters, but the amount of variability in the terrestrial end member is unknown. This gap in knowledge is crucial considering the potential impact large variability would have on modelling DOM degradation. Here, we used a novel liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method to characterise DOM in 74 randomly selected, forested headwater streams in an 87,000 km(2) region of southeast Sweden. We found a large degree of sample similarity across this region, with Bray-Curtis dissimilarity values averaging 8.4 +/- 3.0% (mean +/- SD). The identified variability could be reduced to two principle coordinates, correlating to varying groundwater flow-paths and regional mean temperature. Our results indicate that despite reproducible effects of groundwater geochemistry and climate, the composition of DOM is remarkably similar across catchments already as it leaves the terrestrial environment, rather than becoming homogeneous as different headwaters and sub-catchments mix.

Published in

Scientific Reports
2018, Volume: 8, article number: 16060Publisher: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

      Associated SLU-program

      Lakes and watercourses
      Forest
      Acidification
      Use of FOMA data

      Sustainable Development Goals

      SDG6 Clean water and sanitation

      UKÄ Subject classification

      Geochemistry
      Environmental Sciences
      Forest Science

      Publication identifier

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34272-3

      Permanent link to this page (URI)

      https://res.slu.se/id/publ/97000