Changes in the Coupling of C, N and P Cycles During River Transport from Source to Sea.

Abstract:

The UK Turf2Surf project asks when, where and how coupling between C, N & P cycles occurs within terrestrial, freshwater and estuarine ecosystems. C-N-P cycling and fluxes are followed through two UK catchments, the Conwy and Ribble, which are Centre for Ecology and Hydrology catchment observatories for landscape scale research from source to sea. The Conwy is typical of non-industrialised areas with few discrete agricultural and industrial sources while the Ribble has a mixed urban and agricultural landscape. Both have areas of upland and moor with peats in the Conwy. Field and laboratory experiments track the incorporation of terrestrial C, N & P into the riverine ecosystems of the catchments and measure changes in C-N-P stoichiometry and cycling along the stream networks from uplands to the river-estuary transition zone (RETZ).

We present results focussed on the riverine systems. Flume mesocosms at 18 sites investigated in-stream nutrient processing and algal response to increased C, N & P concentrations (singly and combined). River reach experiments at 14 sites across land use and DOC gradients examined whole ecosystem metabolic response to C, N & P additions. Pore-water sampling with DET (diffusive equilibrium in thin films) gel probes at 5 sites quantified N & P fluxes and distributions across the sediment-water interface. Laboratory mesocosm experiments with streamwater from a variety of land uses (and DOC levels) studied the fate and cycling of stream organic matter subjected to controlled light/dark treatments, and the addition of N & P and a biocide.

Results indicate that the study streams are N limited in the headwaters, but become progressively N & P co-limited near the RETZ. DOC processing in streams transitions from primarily photochemical degradation in headwaters (releasing N & P) to biotic aquatic DOC production (consuming N & P) downstream. Increasing C supply leads to increasing average ecosystem respiration irrespective of N & P status. Residence time provides a key constraint on the magnitude of C, N & P processing within stream reaches. These results have been incorporated into a conceptual model of C-N-P cycling in streams that describes dynamic changes in nutrient coupling, C-N-P stoichiometry, and DOC processing from the terrestrial-freshwater interface through to the RETZ.