Response of Dissolved Organic Matter to Warming and Nitrogen Addition

Abstract:

Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) is a ubiquitous mixture of soluble organic components. Since DOM is produced from the terrestrial leachate of various soil types, soil may influence the chemistry and biology of freshwater through the input of leachate and run-off. The increased temperature by climate change could dramatically change the DOM characteristics of soils through enhanced decomposition rate and losses of carbon from soil organic matter. In addition, the increase in the N-deposition affects DOM leaching from soils by changing the carbon cycling and decomposition rate of soil decay. In this study, we conducted growth chamber experiments using two types of soil (wetland and forest) under the conditions of temperature increase and N-deposition in order to investigate how warming and nitrogen addition influence the characteristics of the DOM leaching from different soil types. This leachate controls the quantity and quality of DOM in surface water systems. After 10 months of incubation, the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations decreased for almost samples in the range of 7.6 to 87.3% (ANOVA, p<0.05). The specific UV absorption (SUVA) values also decreased for almost samples after the first 3 months and then increased gradually afterward in range of 3.3 to 108.4%. Both time and the interaction between time and the temperature had the statistically significant effects on the SUVA values (MANOVA, p<0.05). Humification index (HIX) showed the significant increase trends during the duration of incubation and temperature for almost the samples (ANOVA, p<0.05). Higher decreases in the DOC values and increases in HIX were observed at higher temperatures, whereas the opposite trend was observed for samples with N-addition. The PARAFAC results showed that three fluorescence components: terrestrial humic (C1), microbial humic-like (C2), and protein-like (C3), constituted the fluorescence matrices of soil samples. During the experiment, labile DOM from the soils was consumed and transformed into resistant aromatic carbon structures and less biodegradable components via microbial processes. Both time and the temperature presented the statistically significant effects on DOM characteristics of soil samples while the N-addition exhibited the insignificant difference among the samples.