Life Sciences Commons^™

Stream Dissolved Organic Matter In Permafrost Regions Shows Surprising Compositional Similarities But Negative Priming And Nutrient Effects, Ethan Wologo, Sarah Shakil, Scott Zolkos, Sadie Textor, Stephanie Ewing, Jane Klassen, Robert G. M. Spencer, David C. Podgorski, Suzanne E. Tank, Michelle A. Baker, Jonathan A. O'Donnell, Kimberly P. Wickland, Sydney S. W. Foks, Jay P. Zarnetske, Joseph Lee-Cullin, Futing Liu, Yuanhe Yang, Pirkko Kortelainen, Jaana Kolehmainen, Joshua F. Dean, Jorien E. Vonk, Robert M. Holmes, Gilles Pinay, Michaela M. Powell, Jansen Howe, Rebecca J. Frei, Samuel P. Bratsman, Benjamin W. Abbott

Biology Faculty Publications

Permafrost degradation is delivering bioavailable dissolved organic matter (DOM) and inorganic nutrients to surface water networks. While these permafrost subsidies represent a small portion of total fluvial DOM and nutrient fluxes, they could influence food webs and net ecosystem carbon balance via priming or nutrient effects that destabilize background DOM. We investigated how addition of biolabile carbon (acetate) and inorganic nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) affected DOM decomposition with 28-day incubations. We incubated late-summer stream water from 23 locations nested in seven northern or high-altitude regions in Asia, Europe, and North America. DOM loss ranged from 3% to 52%, showing a …