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Thermodynamic Constraints On Nitrogen Transformations And Other Biogeochemical Processes At Soil-Stream Interfaces, Lars O. Hedin, Joseph C. Von Fischer, Nathaniel E. Ostrom, Brian P. Kennedy, Michael G. Brown, G. Philip Robertson

Dartmouth Scholarship

There is much interest in biogeochemical processes that occur at the interface between soils and streams since, at the scale of landscapes, these habitats may function as control points for fluxes of nitrogen (N) and other nutrients from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems. Here we examine whether a thermodynamic perspective can enhance our mechanistic and predictive understanding of the biogeochemical function of soil-stream interfaces, by considering how microbial communities interact with variations in supplies of electron donors and acceptors. Over a two-year period we analyzed >1400 individual samples of subsurface waters from networks of sample wells in riparian wetlands along Smith …