Water level changes affect carbon turnover and microbial community composition in lake sediments

Weise, Lukas; Ulrich, Andreas; Moreano, Matilde; Geßler, Arthur; Kayler, Zachary; Steger, Kristin; Zeller, Bernd; Rudolph, Kristin; Knežević-Jarić, Jelena; Premke, Katrin

doi:10.1093/femsec/fiw035

Cited by 47 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…We found the N and C elemental concentrations were lower at the sediment edge relative to the centre, exemplifying the spatial heterogeneity in OM turnover induced by the processes associated with the hydroperiod of these kettle hole types. The changes in redox conditions, temperature, and other factors associated with sediment dry‐out along the kettle hole edge most likely results in conditions that enhance microbial decomposition and accelerate biogeochemical cycles (Reverey et al, ; von Rein, Gessler et al, ; Weise et al, ). It is also likely that input in the form of leaf litter from nearby terrestrial vegetation occurs (Nitzsche et al, ) as well as possible overlaps in microbial communities (Bardgett et al, ) or shift in their dynamics (von Rein, Kayler, et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and their residence time in the water body. Additionally, changes in sediment redox status and water temperature that occur with water level fluctuations will simultaneously affect nutrient demand by microbial communities (Weise et al, ), thereby influencing rates of denitrification or sedimentation and subsequent nutrient residence times (Marton et al, ). Thus, an understanding of kettle hole hydro‐biogeochemical dynamics requires both a characterization of connectivity at the larger catchment scale, to gain insight into potential contributions from the extended catchment network, and at the local scale, to observe conditions that may lead to nutrient uptake and storage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ephemeral kettle hole water and sediment temporal and spatial dynamics within an agricultural catchment

et al. 2017

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Kettle holes are glacially created ponds that form within landscape depressions and are numerous across young moraine landscapes. Kettle hole water budgets are based primarily on winter precipitation, and therefore, undergo pronounced short‐term changes in water level fluctuations. Little is known about kettle hole sediment biogeochemistry in NE Germany, especially with regards to hydroperiod. Our objective for this study was to link the abiotic influences demarked by the evaporative isotopic signal from kettle hole water and solute chemistry to sediment organic matter turnover imprinted in the sediment δ13C and δ15N isotopic values. From the 20 kettle holes we sampled, 19 of these completely dried out, but on different dates. This dynamic was partially explained by longitudinal and elevational changes over the catchment area illustrating regional controls of kettle hole water balance. At the scale of an individual kettle hole, we estimated evaporation explained up to 38% of water volume loss. The changes in water levels were weakly related to differences in surface sediment elemental N and C concentrations between kettle hole edge and centre positions. These dynamics were primarily driven by redox conditions, Ca2+, and several nutrient concentrations (dissolved organic carbon, total dissolved nitrogen, total dissolved P, and ammonium) in the water column. Although we did not detect differences in the surface sediment δ13C and δ15N values, the δ15N signature in relation to the C:N ratio highlights the advanced decomposition state of surface sediment OM in temporarily water filled kettle holes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ephemeral kettle hole water and sediment temporal and spatial dynamics within an agricultural catchment

et al. 2017

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“…Drained conditions allow for higher potential O 2 penetration within the soil profile that increases aerobic microbial carbon mineralization and subsequent CO 2 emissions (Batson et al, 2015;Evans et al, 2016). Previous research noted that drier soil sediments in a lake produced high CO 2 emissions because stored organic carbon within dry sediments was more susceptible to microbial decomposition processes than in wet sediments (Weise et al, 2016). There were several taxonomic groups present during the Pre phase that may be responsible for higher CO 2 emissions.…”

Section: Pre Environmental Wateringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Emissions From Degraded Floodplain Wetlands

Limpert

Carnell

Trevathan-Tackett

et al. 2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Globally, freshwater wetlands are significant carbon sinks; however, altering a wetland's hydrology can reduce its ability to sequester carbon and may lead to the release of previously stored soil carbon. Rehabilitating a wetland's water table has the potential to restore the natural process of wetland soil carbon sequestration and storage. Further, little is known about the role of microbial communities that mediate carbon cycling during wetland rehabilitation practices. Here, we examined the carbon emissions and microbial community diversity during a wetland rehabilitation process known as "environmental watering" (rewetting) in an Australian, semi-arid freshwater floodplain wetland. By monitoring carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) emissions during dry and wet phases of an environmental watering event, we determined that adding water to a degraded semi-arid floodplain wetland reduces carbon emissions by 28-84%. The watering event increased anoxic levels and plant growth in the aquatic zone of the wetland, which may correlate with lower carbon emissions during and after environmental watering due to lower anaerobic microbial decomposition processes and higher CO 2 sequestration by vegetation. During the watering event, areas with higher inundation had lower CO 2 emissions (5.15 ± 2.50 g CO 2 m −2 day −1 ) compared to fringe areas surrounding the wetland (11.89 ± 4.25 g CO 2 m −2 day −1 ). CH 4 flux was inversely correlated with CO 2 emissions during inundation periods, showing a 38% (0.013 ± 0.061 g CO 2 -e m −2 day −1 ) increase when water was present in the wetland. During the dry phases of environmental watering, there was CH 4 uptake within the fringe and aquatic zones (−0.013 ± 0.063 g CO 2 -e m −2 day −1 ). A clear succession of soil microbial community was observed during the dry-wet phases of the environmental watering process. This suggests that wetland hydrology plays a large role in the microbial community structure of these wetland ecosystems, and is consequently linked to CO 2 and CH 4 emissions. Overall, the total carbon emissions (CO 2 + CH 4 ) were reduced within the wetland during and after the environmental watering event, due to increasing vegetative growth and subsequent CO 2 sequestration. We, therefore, recommend environmental watering practices in this degraded arid wetland ecosystem to improve conditions for wetland carbon sequestration and storage. Further use of this management practice may improve wetland carbon storage across other arid freshwater wetland ecosystems with similar hydrologic regimes.

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“…An increasing number of studies-all of them very recentindicate that exposed aquatic sediments are relevant net sources of atmospheric CO 2 (Catalán et al 2014;Hyojin et al 2016;Marcé et al 2019;Obrador et al 2018;Schiller et al 2014). An important factor supporting enhanced CO 2 emission rates from exposed sediments is the increased microbial metabolism (e.g., enhanced enzyme activity of phenol oxidases and hydrolases) as sediment dries out (Hyojin et al 2016;Weise et al 2016). The importance of exposed sediments to reservoir carbon processing is clearly illustrated by a study in a Southeast Asian reservoir, which demonstrates that drawdown areas may contribute up to 75% of total annual CO 2 emissions (Deshmukh et al 2018).…”

Section: Aquatic Sciencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon dioxide emission from drawdown areas of a Brazilian reservoir is linked to surrounding land cover

et al. 2019

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Reservoir sediments exposed to air due to water level fluctuations are strong sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2). The spatial variability of CO 2 fluxes from these drawdown areas are still poorly understood. In a reservoir in southeastern Brazil, we investigated whether CO 2 emissions from drawdown areas vary as a function of neighboring land cover types and assessed the magnitude of CO 2 fluxes from drawdown areas in relation to nearby water surface. Exposed sediments near forestland (average = 2733 mg C m −2 day −1) emitted more CO 2 than exposed sediments near grassland (average = 1261 mg C m −2 day −1), congruent with a difference in organic matter content between areas adjacent to forestland (average = 12.2%) and grassland (average = 10.9%). Moisture also had a significant effect on CO 2 emission, with dry exposed sediments (average water content: 13.7%) emitting on average 2.5 times more CO 2 than wet exposed sediments (average water content: 23.5%). We carried out a systematic comparison with data from the literature, which indicates that CO 2 efflux from drawdown areas globally is about an order of magnitude higher than CO 2 efflux from adjacent water surfaces, and within the range of CO 2 efflux from terrestrial soils. Our findings suggest that emissions from exposed sediments may vary substantially in space, possibly related to organic matter supply from uphill vegetation, and that drawdown areas play a disproportionately important role in total reservoir CO 2 emissions with respect to the area they cover.

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Water level changes affect carbon turnover and microbial community composition in lake sediments

Cited by 47 publications

References 72 publications

Ephemeral kettle hole water and sediment temporal and spatial dynamics within an agricultural catchment

Ephemeral kettle hole water and sediment temporal and spatial dynamics within an agricultural catchment

Reducing Emissions From Degraded Floodplain Wetlands

Carbon dioxide emission from drawdown areas of a Brazilian reservoir is linked to surrounding land cover

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