Effects of forestry operations on dissolved organic carbon concentrations and export in boreal first‐order streams

Schelker, Jakob; Eklöf, Karin; Bishop, Kevin; Laudon, Hjalmar

doi:10.1029/2011jg001827

Cited by 115 publications

(154 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…In addition, increased soil temperatures following clear-cutting accelerate mineralization and nitrification in the soil (Paavolainen and Smolander 1998;Smolander et al 2001) and nutrients are released from decomposing logging residues (Palviainen et al 2004). Clear-cutting may also increase total or dissolved organic carbon (TOC, DOC) export (Lamontagne et al 2000;Schelker et al 2012Schelker et al , 2014, which have implications for catchment carbon budgets (Schelker et al 2012), the structure of aquatic food webs (Jansson et al 2000), the acid-base chemistry of surface waters (Buffam et al 2008), and the mobility, toxicity, and bioavailability of trace metals and organic pollutants (Porvari et al 2003;Bergknut et al 2011). The impacts on water quality are long-term and they are generally at its greatest during the first years after clear-cutting (Rosén et al 1996;Ahtiainen and Huttunen 1999;Palviainen et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations in boreal headwater streams

Palviainen

Finér

Laurén

et al. 2015

Ambio

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Large-scale forestry operations, like clearcutting, may impair surface water quality if not done with environmental considerations in mind. Catchment and country level estimates of nutrient loads from forestry are generally based on specific export values, i.e., changes in annual exports due to the implemented forestry operations expressed in kg ha -1 . We introduce here a specific concentration approach as a method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations and export in headwater streams. This new method is potentially a more dynamic and flexible tool to estimate nutrient loads caused by forestry, because variation in annual runoff can be taken into account in load assessments. We combined water quality data from eight boreal headwater catchment pairs located in Finland and Sweden, where the effect of clear-cutting on stream water quality has been studied experimentally. Statistically significant specific concentration values could be produced for total nitrogen, nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate. The significant increases in the concentrations of these nutrients occurred between 2 and 6 years after clearcutting. Significant specific concentration values could not be produced for total phosphorus and total organic carbon with the whole dataset, although in some single studies significant increases in their concentrations after clear-cutting were observed. The presented method enables taking into account variation in runoff, temporal dynamics of effects, and the proportional size of the treated area in load calculations. The number of existing studies considering large site-specific variation in responses to clear-cutting is small, and therefore further empirical studies are needed to improve predictive capabilities of the specific concentration values.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations in boreal headwater streams

Palviainen

Finér

Laurén

et al. 2015

Ambio

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“…In a study of a highly modified German peatland, Frank et al (2014) Nieminen, 2004;Schelker et al, 2012;Nieminen et al, 2014). Within semi-natural peatlands, Clay et al (2012) measured higher DOC concentrations in an eroded compared to a natural peat catchment, and some studies have suggested that moorland burning may enhance DOC loss rates (e.g.…”

Section: Effects Of Peatland Drainage and Rewetting On Doc Fluxesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of waterborne carbon in the greenhouse gas balance of drained and re-wetted peatlands

2015

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Article (refereed) -postprintEvans, Chris D.; Renou-Wilson, Flo; Strack, Maria. 2016. The role of waterborne carbon in the greenhouse gas balance of drained and rewetted peatlands [in special issue: Carbon cycling in aquatic ecosystems] Aquatic Sciences, 78 (3). 573-590. 10.1007/s00027-015-0447-y Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner.The role of waterborne carbon in the greenhouse gas balance of drained and re-wetted peatlands AbstractAccounting for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals in managed ecosystems has generally focused on direct land-atmosphere fluxes, but in peatlands a significant proportion of total carbon loss occurs via fluvial transport. This study considers the composition of this 'waterborne carbon' flux, its potential contribution to GHG emissions, and the extent to which it may change in response to land-management. The work describes, and builds on, a methodology to account for major components of these emissions developed for the 2013 Wetland Supplement of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We identify two major components of GHG emissions from waterbodies draining organic soil: i) 'on site' emissions of methane (and to a lesser extent CO2) from drainage ditches located within the peatland; and ii) 'off site' emissions of CO2 resulting from downstream oxidation of dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOC and POC) within the aquatic system. Methane emissions from ditches were found to be large in many cases (mean 60 g CH4 m -2 yr -1 based on all reported values), countering the view that methane emissions cease following wetland drainage. Emissions were greatest from ditches in intensive agricultural peatlands, but data were sparse and showed high variability. For DOC, the magnitude of the natural flux varied strongly with latitude, from 5 g C m -2 yr -1 in northern boreal peatlands to 60 g C m -2 yr -1 in tropical peatlands. Available data suggest that DOC fluxes increase by around 60% following drainage, and that this increase may be reversed in the longer-term through re-wetting, although variability between studies was high, especially in relation to re-wetting response. Evidence regarding the fate of DOC is complex and inconclusive, but overall suggests that the majority of DOC exported from peatlands is converted to CO2 through photo-and/or bio-degradation in rivers, standing waters and oceans. The contribution of POC export to GHG emissions is even more uncertain, but we estimate that over half of exported POC may eventually be converted to CO2. Although POC fluxes are normally small, they can become very large when bare peat surfaces are exposed to fluvial erosion. Overall, we estimate that waterborne carbon emissions may contribute about 1 to 4 t CO2-eq ha -1 yr -1 of additional GHG emissions from drained peatlands. For a number of worked examples this repres...

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“…The absence of this parameter in most field sampling datasets (Caruso et al 2008) may greatly increase the prediction uncertainties associated with the transport and fate of metals. Several studies (Schelker et al 2012;Raymond and Saiers 2010) have shown that DOC concentrations can fluctuate up to several hundreds of per cent due to land use changes (e.g. deforestation), storm events and seasonal variability.…”

Section: Metals Governed By Equilibrium Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speciation and hydrological transport of metals in non-acidic river systems of the Lake Baikal basin: Field data and model predictions

et al. 2016

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The speciation of metals in aqueous systems is central to understanding their mobility, bioavailability, toxicity and fate. Although several geochemical speciation models exist for metals, the equilibrium conditions assumed by many of them may not prevail in field-scale hydrological systems with flowing water. Furthermore, the dominant processes and/or process rates in non-acidic systems might differ from well-studied acidic systems. We here aim to increase knowledge on geochemical processes controlling speciation and transport of metals under nonacidic river conditions. Specifically, we evaluate the predictive capacity of a speciation model to novel measurements of multiple metals and their partitioning, under highpH conditions in mining zones within the Lake Baikal basin. The mining zones are potential hotspots for increasing metal loads to downstream river systems. Metals released from such upstream regions may be transported all the way to Lake Baikal, where increasing metal contamination of sediments and biota has been reported. Our results show clear agreement between speciation predictions and field measurements of Fe, V, Pb and Zn, suggesting that the partitioning of these metals mainly was governed by equilibrium geochemistry under the studied conditions. Systematic over-predictions of dissolved Cr, Cu and Mo by the model were observed, which might be corrected by improving the adsorption database for hydroxyapatite because that mineral likely controls the solubility of these metals. Additionally, metal complexation by dissolved organic matter is a key parameter that needs continued monitoring in the Lake Baikal basin because dependable predictions could not be made without considering its variability. Finally, our investigation indicates that further model development is needed for accurate As speciation predictions under non-acidic conditions, which is crucial for improved health risk assessments on this contaminant.

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Effects of forestry operations on dissolved organic carbon concentrations and export in boreal first‐order streams

Cited by 115 publications

References 90 publications

A method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations in boreal headwater streams

A method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations in boreal headwater streams

The role of waterborne carbon in the greenhouse gas balance of drained and re-wetted peatlands

Speciation and hydrological transport of metals in non-acidic river systems of the Lake Baikal basin: Field data and model predictions

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