The quality and quantity of DOC: Ecological and biogeochemical significance in a nested boreal stream network

Abstract:

The objective of this presentation is to demonstrate a conceptual framework for how the quality and quantity of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is regulated across a heterogeneous boreal landscape, and how that in turn affects stream water quality. To do this I will summarize a decade of inter-disciplinary research from the Krycklan Catchment Study in northern Sweden, and use a few contrasting biochemical constituents to illustrate the role of hotspots, landscape structure, and catchment scale as determinants of stream water quality. I will include several diverse functions related to the quality and quantity of DOC, ranging from how the bioavailability of DOC varies depending on catchment characteristics and seasons to how various natural and anthropogenic-derived elements are transformed, mobilized, and transported through the terrestrial environment to adjacent headwater streams and downstream to larger rivers.