Shifting limitation of primary production: experimental support for a new model in lake ecosystems

Olson, Carly R.; Solomon, Christopher T.; Jones, Stuart

doi:10.1111/ele.13606

Cited by 26 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…5B). The unimodal DOC‐GPP relationship was recently described in empirical and modeling studies suggesting that DOC can promote GPP due to DOC‐associated nutrients or coupled nutrient‐DOC loading up to a threshold, after which DOC reduces GPP via light limitation (Zwart et al 2016; Kelly et al 2018; Olson et al 2020). Our boosted regression trees predicted that peak GPP occurred in lakes with 6–7 mg L −1 DOC, close to the 7–8 mg L −1 DOC peak predicted by Kelly et al’s (2018) model, and within the range of empirical estimates from arctic and boreal regions (Seekell et al 2015; Bergström and Karlsson 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…While this past work has advanced our knowledge of lake organic matter processing, recent research has highlighted context‐dependency and nonlinearities between lake characteristics and GPP. One avenue of recent research has reimagined the paradigm that DOC negatively relates to GPP; researchers now propose a unimodal relationship where DOC‐associated nutrients can fertilize lakes at low DOC concentrations, before limiting GPP due to greater light attenuation at high DOC concentrations (Seekell et al 2015; Kelly et al 2018; Olson et al 2020). Another line of research suggests that GPP and nutrients may relate nonlinearly in hypereutrophic systems, where high nitrate can reduce chlorophyll concentration through nitrogen stress (Filstrup et al 2018).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Integrating ecosystem metabolism and consumer allochthony reveals nonlinear drivers in lake organic matter processing

Holgerson

Hovel

Kelly

et al. 2021

Limnology & Oceanography

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Lakes process both terrestrial and aquatic organic matter, and the relative contribution from each source is often measured via ecosystem metabolism and terrestrial resource use in the food web (i.e., consumer allochthony). Yet, ecosystem metabolism and consumer allochthony are rarely considered together, despite possible interactions and potential for them to respond to the same lake characteristics. In this study, we compiled global datasets of lake gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and zooplankton allochthony to compare the strength and shape of relationships with physicochemical characteristics across a broad set of lakes. GPP was positively related to total phosphorus (TP) in lakes with intermediate TP concentrations (11-75 μg L À1 ) and was highest in lakes with intermediate dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations. While ER and GPP were strongly positively correlated, decoupling occurred at high DOC concentrations. Lastly, allochthony had a unimodal relationship with TP and related variably to DOC. By integrating metabolism and allochthony, we identified similar change points in GPP and zooplankton allochthony at intermediate DOC (4.5-10 mg L À1 ) and TP (8-20 μg L À1 ) concentrations, indicating that allochthony and GPP may be coupled and inversely related. The ratio of DOC:nutrients also helped to identify conditions where lake organic matter processing responded more to autochthonous or allochthonous organic matter sources. As lakes globally face eutrophication and browning, predicting how lake organic matter processing will respond requires an updated paradigm that incorporates nonlinear dynamics and interactions.The production and processing of organic matter are central to the field of ecosystem science. Freshwater lakes are particularly active sites for carbon cycling because they can receive substantial organic matter inputs from the watershed in addition to within-system production from photosynthesis (Cole et al. 2007). The balance of internal (i.e., autochthonous) production and terrestrial (i.e., allochthonous) inputs influence the extent to

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating ecosystem metabolism and consumer allochthony reveals nonlinear drivers in lake organic matter processing

Holgerson

Hovel

Kelly

et al. 2021

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…DOM composition influences both the primary production and respiration terms of ecosystem metabolism. Primary production in lakes is controlled not only by the magnitude of DOC loads, but also by their specific light absorptivity and nutrient:C stoichiometry (Bergstro ¨m and Karlsson 2019; Kelly et al 2018;Olson et al 2020). DOM composition also interacts with water residence time and lake thermal structure to control rates of ecosystem respiration (e.g., Berggren et al 2010;Jones et al 2018;Mostovaya et al 2016).…”

Section: The Dynamic Composition Of the Dom Pool Will Impact The Global C Cycle Of Inland Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

How humans alter dissolved organic matter composition in freshwater: relevance for the Earth’s biogeochemistry

et al. 2021

Self Cite

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Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is recognized for its importance in freshwater ecosystems, but historical reliance on DOM quantity rather than indicators of DOM composition has led to an incomplete understanding of DOM and an underestimation of its role and importance in biogeochemical processes. A single sample of DOM can be composed of tens of thousands of distinct molecules. Each of these unique DOM molecules has their own chemical properties and reactivity or role in the environment. Human activities can modify DOM composition and recent research has uncovered distinct DOM pools laced with human markers and footprints. Here we review how land use change, climate change, nutrient pollution, browning, wildfires, and dams can change DOM composition which in turn will affect internal processing of freshwater DOM. We then describe how human-modified DOM can affect biogeochemical processes. Drought, wildfires, cultivated land use, eutrophication, climate change driven permafrost thaw, and other human stressors can shift the composition of DOM in freshwater ecosystems increasing the relative contribution of microbial-like and aliphatic components. In contrast, increases in precipitation may shift DOM towards more relatively humic-rich, allochthonous forms of DOM. These shifts in DOM pools will likely have highly contrasting effects on carbon outgassing and burial, nutrient cycles, ecosystem metabolism, metal toxicity, and the treatments needed to produce clean drinking water. A deeper understanding of the links between the chemical properties of DOM and biogeochemical dynamics can help to address important future environmental issues, such as the transfer of organic contaminants through food webs, alterations to nitrogen cycling, impacts on drinking water quality, and biogeochemical effects of global climate change.

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“…By limiting photosynthesis, browning can decrease primary production, reducing the biomass available for higher trophic levels (Ask et al, 2009; Jones et al, 2012; Seekell et al, 2015; Vasconcelos et al, 2016). This negative impact on resource availability is especially strong for benthic systems (Karlsson et al, 2009; Vasconcelos et al, 2018), but can be positive, negative or neutral with respect to pelagic resource production (phytoplankton and zooplankton; Ask et al, 2012; van Dorst et al, 2020; Kelly et al, 2016; Leech et al, 2020; Olson et al, 2020; Vasconcelos et al, 2018). Not only may browning‐induced light limitation alter resource production and biomass, but also zooplankton prey community composition (van Dorst et al, 2020; Robidoux et al, 2015; Williamson et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zooplanktivore fish body growth responses to browning‐induced light limitation vary over ontogeny, but not with fish density

Dorst

Gårdmark

Svanbäck

et al. 2021

Ecology of Freshwater Fish

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Ongoing climate change is leading to browning of many lakes and coastal areas, which can impair fish body growth and biomass production. However, whether and how effects of light limitation caused by browning on fish body growth vary over early ontogeny is unknown. In this study, we set up a mesocosm experiment to test whether roach (Rutilus rutilus) body growth responses to browning depend on body size, and if findings are robust over roach densities. We also studied a potential mechanism for size‐specific responses by conducting an aquaria experiment to test if size‐specific prey selectivity in roach changes with browning. We found that roach body growth responses to browning‐induced light limitation vary over ontogeny (independent of roach density), negatively affecting body growth of young‐of‐the‐year (YOY) but not of 1‐year‐old individuals. We also show that this difference in growth response is likely a consequence of browning‐induced alterations in zooplankton community composition and variation in prey selectivity between YOY and 1‐year‐old fish. This suggests that we should account for the diverse effects of browning over fish ontogeny, mediated via altered prey composition and ontogenetic changes in prey preference, when assessing overall impacts of browning on aquatic ecosystems.

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Shifting limitation of primary production: experimental support for a new model in lake ecosystems

Cited by 26 publications

References 51 publications

Integrating ecosystem metabolism and consumer allochthony reveals nonlinear drivers in lake organic matter processing

Integrating ecosystem metabolism and consumer allochthony reveals nonlinear drivers in lake organic matter processing

How humans alter dissolved organic matter composition in freshwater: relevance for the Earth’s biogeochemistry

Zooplanktivore fish body growth responses to browning‐induced light limitation vary over ontogeny, but not with fish density

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