Climate change induced shifts in treeline position, both towards higher altitudes and latitudes induce changes in soil organic matter. Eventually, soil organic matter is transported to alpine and subarctic lakes with yet unknown consequences for dissolved organic matter (DOM) diversity and processing. Here, we experimentally investigate the consequences of treeline shifts by amending subarctic and temperate alpine lake water with soil-derived DOM from above and below the treeline.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAquatic dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a crucial component of the global carbon cycle, and the extent to which DOM escapes mineralization is important for the transport of organic carbon from the continents to the ocean. DOM persistence strongly depends on its molecular properties, but little is known about which specific properties cause the continuum in reactivity among different dissolved molecules. We investigated how DOM fractions, separated according to their hydrophobicity, differ in biodegradability across three different inland water systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLakes are significant emitters of methane to the atmosphere, and thus are important components of the global methane budget. Methane is typically produced in lake sediments, with the rate of methane production being strongly temperature dependent. Local and regional studies highlight the risk of increasing methane production under future climate change, but a global estimate is not currently available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Paris agreement identifies the importance of the conservation, or better, increase of the land carbon sink. In this respect, the mitigation policies of many forest rich countries rely heavily on products from forests as well as on the land sink. Here we demonstrate that Sweden's land sink, which is critical in order to achieve zero net emissions by 2045 and negative emissions thereafter, is reduced to less than half when accounting for emissions from wetlands, lakes and running waters.
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