Catchments on the cusp? Structural and functional change in northern ecohydrology

Tetzlaff, Doerthe; Soulsby, Chris; Buttle, J. M.; Capell, René; Carey, Sean K.; Laudon, Hjalmar; McDonnell, Jeffrey J.; McGuire, K. J.; Seibert, Jan; Shanley, James B.

doi:10.1002/hyp.9700

Cited by 64 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 71 publications

(86 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A growing number of studies show that climate change will greatly affect hydroclimatic regimes and DOC exports in environments at high latitudes if future conditions are warmer and wetter (Jungqvist et al 2014;Carey et al 2010;Tetzlaff et al 2013;Mellander et al 2007;Lepistö et al 2014). This study supports these earlier findings, with the RCM ensemble projecting a wide range of possible future hydroclimatic conditions (Table 3).…”

Section: Change In Hydroclimatic Regimessupporting

confidence: 87%

“…For example, recovery from acidification was the main driver of the increase in DOC observed in southern Fennoscandia, the UK and parts of North America Monteith et al 2007). However, in boreal and other high latitude regions which have not been significantly affected by acidification, there is increasing recognition of the role of climate variability and change as a long-term control of [DOC] (Couture et al 2012;Laudon et al 2012Laudon et al , 2013aLepistö et al 2014;Tetzlaff et al 2013;Pastor et al 2003). Such trends of increasing [DOC] might continue as the future climate warms and precipitation patterns shift in an unpredictable manner (IPCC 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Cross-scale ensemble projections of dissolved organic carbon dynamics in boreal forest streams

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate is an important driver of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) dynamics in boreal catchments characterized by networks of streams within forest-wetland landscape mosaics. In this paper, we assess how climate change may affect stream DOC concentrations ([DOC]) and export from boreal forest streams with a multi-model ensemble approach. First, we apply an ensemble of regional climate models (RCMs) to project soil temperatures and stream-flows. These data are then used to drive two biogeochemical models of surface water DOC: (1) The Integrated Catchment model for Carbon (INCA-C), a detailed process-based model of DOC operating at the catchment scale, and (2) The Riparian Integration Model (RIM), a simple dynamic hillslope scale model of stream [DOC]. All RCMs project a consistent increase in temperature and precipitation as well as a shift in spring runoff peaks from May to April. However, they present a considerable range of possible future runoff conditions with an ensemble median increase of 31 % between current and future (2061-2090) conditions. Both biogeochemical models perform well in describing the dynamics of presentday stream [DOC] and fluxes, but disagree in their future projections. Here, we assess possible futures in three boreal catchments representative of forest, mire and mixed landscape elements. INCA-C projects a wider range of stream [DOC] due to its temperature sensitivity, whereas RIM gives consistently larger inter-annual variation and a wider range of exports due to its sensitivity to hydrological variations. The uncertainties associated with modeling complex processes that control future DOC dynamics in boreal and temperate catchments are still the main limitation to our understanding of DOC mechanisms under changing climate conditions. Novel, currently overlooked or unknown drivers may appear that will present new challenges to modelling DOC in the future.

show abstract

Section: Change In Hydroclimatic Regimessupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-scale ensemble projections of dissolved organic carbon dynamics in boreal forest streams

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The first corresponds to roughly the average annual flow at the Krycklan catchment outlet of about 1 m 3 /s and a stage of 0.6 m. This flow rate is equivalent to a specific discharge (i.e., flow rate per unit catchment area) of about 1.3 mm/d, which is similar to observed values reported in Lyon et al [47]. Furthermore, this flow rate corresponds to an annual runoff of around 475 mm/y, which is similar to that reported in Tetlzaff et al [48] for the Krycklan catchment. The second stage for comparison was 1.4 m, which corresponds to the most consistently observed maximum flow rate of around 8 m 3 /s during the spring flood.…”

Section: Estimation Of Rating Curves and Channel Geometrysupporting

confidence: 88%

Can Low-Resolution Airborne Laser Scanning Data Be Used to Model Stream Rating Curves?

Lyon

Nathanson

Lam

et al. 2015

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This pilot study explores the potential of using low-resolution (0.2 points/m 2 ) airborne laser scanning (ALS)-derived elevation data to model stream rating curves. Rating curves, which allow the functional translation of stream water depth into discharge, making them integral to water resource monitoring efforts, were modeled using a physics-based approach that captures basic geometric measurements to establish flow resistance due to implicit channel roughness. We tested synthetically thinned high-resolution (more than 2 points/m 2 ) ALS data as a proxy for low-resolution data at a point density equivalent to that obtained within most national-scale ALS strategies. Our results show that the errors incurred due to the effect of low-resolution versus high-resolution ALS data were less than OPEN ACCESSWater 2015, 7 1325 those due to flow measurement and empirical rating curve fitting uncertainties. As such, although there likely are scale and technical limitations to consider, it is theoretically possible to generate rating curves in a river network from ALS data of the resolution anticipated within national-scale ALS schemes (at least for rivers with relatively simple geometries). This is promising, since generating rating curves from ALS scans would greatly enhance our ability to monitor streamflow by simplifying the overall effort required.

show abstract

“…In these aquatic systems that have high absolute concentrations of DOC, C bioavailability was lowest relative to N and P. This study not only reveals the likely control that C has on boreal heterotrophic aquatic metabolism but also suggests that possible changes in C loading of the boreal water systems in the future may impact aquatic productivity and the turnover of nutrients. Northern catchments are thought to be particularly sensitive to ongoing climate change (Tetzlaff et al, 2013) and this refined understanding of bioavailable resource stoichiometry may be essential to forecast and mitigate aquatic ecosystem responses to these and other anthropogenic pressures at high latitudes.…”

Section: Resource Bioavailability As a Driver Of Ecological Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights on resource stoichiometry: assessing availability of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to bacterioplankton

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Boreal lake and river ecosystems receive large quantities of organic nutrients and carbon (C) from their catchments. How bacterioplankton respond to these inputs is not well understood, in part because we base our understanding and predictions on "total pools", yet we know little about the stoichiometry of bioavailable elements within organic matter. We designed bioassays with the purpose of exhausting the pools of readily bioavailable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC), bioavailable dissolved nitrogen (BDN), and bioavailable dissolved phosphorus (BDP) as fast as possible. Applying the method in four boreal lakes at base-flow conditions yielded concentrations of bioavailable resources in the range 105-693 µg C L −1 for BDOC (2 % of initial total DOC), 24-288 µg N L −1 for BDN (31 % of initial total dissolved nitrogen), and 0.2-17 µg P L −1 for BDP (49 % of initial total dissolved phosphorus). Thus, relative bioavailability increased from carbon (C) to nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P). We show that the main fraction of bioavailable nutrients is organic, representing 80 % of BDN and 61 % of BDP. In addition, we demonstrate that total C : N and C : P ratios are as much as 13-fold higher than C : N and C : P ratios for bioavailable resource fractions. Further, by applying additional bioavailability measurements to seven widely distributed rivers, we provide support for a general pattern of relatively high bioavailability of P and N in relation to C. Altogether, our findings underscore the poor availability of C for support of bacterial metabolism in boreal C-rich freshwaters, and suggest that these ecosystems are very sensitive to increased input of bioavailable DOC.

show abstract

Catchments on the cusp? Structural and functional change in northern ecohydrology

Cited by 64 publications

References 71 publications

Cross-scale ensemble projections of dissolved organic carbon dynamics in boreal forest streams

Cross-scale ensemble projections of dissolved organic carbon dynamics in boreal forest streams

Can Low-Resolution Airborne Laser Scanning Data Be Used to Model Stream Rating Curves?

New insights on resource stoichiometry: assessing availability of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to bacterioplankton

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About