Seasonal variation and processing of vascular plant organic matter in tropical montane catchments as reflected by riverine DOC compositions

Abstract:

Tropical rivers are responsible for two thirds of global fluxes of terrigenous organic matter to the oceans, yet because of their remote locations relative to most industrialized countries, they are poorly studied compared to temperate and even Arctic rivers. This study measured lignin biomarkers on weekly samples from two Puerto Rican rivers, the Mameyes and the Rio Icacos, over the course of ~9 months in order to investigate watershed controls on organic matter export via rivers. In both rivers, carbon-normalized yields of lignin increased with discharge, indicating higher organic matter contributions from vascular plants and lower contributions from microbial sources. Lignin biomarkers can be used to distinguish between conifer and deciduous trees as well as woody and nonwoody tissues, and the source signatures of the two rivers were essentially the same, indicating similar vegetation and sources of organic materials to both rivers. Thus, differences in diagenetic lignin parameters can be attributed to differences in processing within the two watersheds. For example, the Rio Icacos is a much flashier system with much higher sediment loads during storm events, which can lead to significant exchange of organic matter between the dissolved and particulate phase. Acid to aldehyde ratios for vanillyl and syringyl lignin phenols, (Ad:Al)v and (Ad:Al)s, are commonly used indicators of degradation. Plots of (Ad:Al)s vs. (Ad:Al)v for the two rivers reveal a significantly steeper slope for the Mameyes, which could reflect differences in the mineralogy between the systems, as the Mameyes watershed is underlain by volcaniclastic materials while the Rio Icacos is underlain by granodiorite. It is a commonly held assumption that base materials and soils should exert a strong influence on riverine organic matter compositions, but paired watershed studies are comparatively rare even in temperate climates. Hence, measureable differences between the two systems studied here demonstrate significant potential for future studies of landscape controls on river biogeochemistry.