Does freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity along a pH‐gradient reflect adaptation to low pH?

1. The impacts of anthropogenic surface water acidification are much better known than those of natural acidity. Recent studies have indicated biodiversity is not degraded and species composition unaltered in naturally acidic compared to circumneutral watercourses.
2. Here, we use a geographically extensive dataset comprising sites in more than 200 Swedish streams to test whether the lack of effects on macroinvertebrate species diversity is due to exaptation and adaptation to natural acidity.
3. To this end, we modelled pH associated with spring flood episodes, which inflict the most challenging hydrochemical conditions to the biota. We compared taxonomic richness and species composition along the modelled pH gradient in northern Sweden, where acidity is largely natural, with southern Sweden, a region influenced by significant anthropogenic acidification.
4. We found Plecoptera richness did not respond to varying pH either in northern or southern Sweden. Ephemeroptera richness was sensitive to pH in both regions, while that of Trichoptera increased with increasing pH in southern Sweden, but decreased in the north. The taxonomic composition of Plecoptera changed along the pH gradient in both regions, whereas that of Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera changed more strongly with pH in southern Sweden.
5. Our results support the hypothesis that stream invertebrates are able to tolerate low pH through exaptation or adaptation, but that this capability varies among taxonomic groups.     

Terrestrial export of highly bioavailable carbon from small boreal catchments in spring floods

1. We assessed the terrestrial export of organic carbon, which effectively supported aquatic bacterial production (BP), from small boreal catchments during spring flood. We analysed stream runoff from nine small catchments with different proportions of peat mires and coniferous forests by monitoring the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) flux in combination with conducting bacterial bioassays.
2. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that BP during 7-day-dark bioassays (BP₇; μg C L⁻¹day⁻¹) was explained by both the quantity and quality (low-molecular weight fractions) of the DOC. BP₇ can be used as a measure of export of terrestrial organic carbon that is highly bioavailable.
3. Total export of DOC during spring flood from the different catchments ranged from 20 to 27 kg ha⁻¹ and was negatively correlated to forest cover (%). However, the export of BP₇ carbon was positively correlated to forest cover and varied from about 0.1 kg ha⁻¹ in mire-dominated streams to about 0.2 kg ha⁻¹ in forest-dominated streams.
4. The high bioavailability of forest carbon suggests that forests are the main contributors of BP-supporting carbon in boreal streams although mires have higher area-specific export of DOC.     

Thirty-five years of synchrony in the organic matter concentrations of Swedish rivers explained by variation in flow and sulphate

Increasing concentrations of organic matter (OM) in surface waters have been noted over large parts of the boreal/nemoral zone in Europe and North America. This has raised questions about the causes and the likelihood of further increases. A number of drivers have been proposed, including temperature, hydrology, as well as ‐ and Cl^? deposition. The data reported so far, however, have been insufficient to define the relative importance of different drivers in landscapes where they interact. Thirty‐five years of monthly measurements of absorbance and chemical oxygen demand (COD), two common proxies for OM, from 28 large Scandinavian catchments provide an unprecedented opportunity to resolve the importance of hypothesized drivers. For 21 of the catchments, there are 18 years of total organic carbon (TOC) measurements as well. Despite the heterogeneity of the catchments with regards to climate, size and land use, there is a high degree of synchronicity in OM across the entire region. Rivers go from widespread trends of decreasing OM to increasing trends and back again three times in the 35‐year record. This synchronicity in decadal scale oscillations and long‐term trends suggest a common set of dominant OM drivers in these landscapes. Here, we use regression models to test the importance of different potential drivers. We show that flow and together can predict most of the interannual variability in OM proxies, up to 88% for absorbance, up to 78% for COD. Two other candidate drivers, air temperature and Cl^?, add little explanatory value. Declines in anthropogenic since the mid‐1970s are thus related to the observed OM increases in Scandinavia, but, in contrast to many recent studies, flow emerges as an even more important driver of OM variability. Stabilizing levels also mean that hydrology is likely to be the major driver of future variability and trends in OM.     

Contemporary carbon accumulation in a boreal oligotrophic minerogenic mire – a significant sink after accounting for all C-fluxes

Based on theories of mire development and responses to a changing climate, the current role of mires as a net carbon sink has been questioned. A rigorous evaluation of the current net C-exchange in mires requires measurements of all relevant fluxes. Estimates of annual total carbon budgets in mires are still very limited. Here, we present a full carbon budget over 2 years for a boreal minerogenic oligotrophic mire in northern Sweden (64°11′N, 19°33′E). Data on the following fluxes were collected: land–atmosphere CO₂ exchange (continuous Eddy covariance measurements) and CH₄ exchange (static chambers during the snow free period); TOC (total organic carbon) in precipitation; loss of TOC, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and CH₄ through stream water runoff (continuous discharge measurements and regular C-concentration measurements). The mire constituted a net sink of 27±3.4 (±SD) g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ during 2004 and 20±3.4 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ during 2005. This could be partitioned into an annual surface–atmosphere CO₂ net uptake of 55±1.9 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ during 2004 and 48±1.6 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ during 2005. The annual NEE was further separated into a net uptake season, with an uptake of 92 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ during 2004 and 86 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ during 2005, and a net loss season with a loss of 37 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ during 2004 and 38 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ during 2005. Of the annual net CO₂-C uptake, 37% and 31% was lost through runoff (with runoff TOC>DIC≫CH₄) and 16% and 29% through methane emission during 2004 and 2005, respectively. This mire is still a significant C-sink, with carbon accumulation rates comparable to the long-term Holocene C-accumulation, and higher than the C-accumulation during the late Holocene in the region.     

Winter soil frost conditions in boreal forests control growing season soil CO2 concentration and its atmospheric exchange

The impact of changes in winter soil frost regime on soil CO₂ concentration and its atmospheric exchange in a boreal Norway spruce forest was investigated using a field‐scale soil frost manipulation experiment. The experiment comprised three treatments: deep soil frost, shallow soil frost and control plots (n= 3). Winter soil temperatures and soil frost distribution were significantly altered by the different treatments. The average soil CO₂ concentrations during the growing season were significantly lower in plots with deep soil frost than in plots with shallow soil frost. The average CO₂ soil–atmosphere exchange rate exhibited the same pattern, and differences in soil respiration rates among the treatments were statistically significant. Both the variation in soil CO₂ concentration and the CO₂ soil–atmosphere exchange rate could statistically be explained by the differences in the maximum soil frost depth during the previous winter. A response model for growing season soil respiration rates suggests that every 1 cm change in winter soil frost depth will change the emission rates by ca. 0.01 g CO₂ m^?2 day^?1, corresponding to 0.2–0.5% of the estimated net ecosystem productivity (NEP). This suggests that the soil frost regime has a significant influence on the C balance of the system, because interannual variations in soil frost up to 60 cm have been recorded at the site. We conclude that winter climate conditions can be important in controlling C balances in northern terrestrial ecosystems, and also that indirect effects of the winter season must be taken into account, because these can affect the prevailing conditions during the growing season.     

Associations between water chemistry and fish community composition: a comparison between isolated and connected lakes in northern Sweden

1. The correlation between water chemistry, physical variables and fish community composition was examined in 40 small (≤30 ha) coastal lakes in northern Sweden. Twenty of the 40 lakes were isolated from other water bodies and 20 were connected to the Baltic Sea. Lakes were fished in summer, using three different methods. Water chemistry was sampled in late winter prior to ice‐out and pH was measured additionally in summer. 2. Our central question was whether water chemistry plays a greater role in the composition of fish communities in isolated lakes than in connected lakes, as isolated lakes cannot be recolonised once a species has become extinct. 3. Results indicate that winter anoxia affects community composition only in isolated lakes, whereas acidity is of importance in both connected and isolated lakes. Methane (indicating anoxia), was significantly correlated with variation in fish community composition in isolated lakes, and a group of variables that indicate anoxia (CH₄, pCO₂, inorganic carbon and dissolved oxygen) explained 24–34% of the variation. pH alone explained 12% of the variation in community composition for connected lakes and a group of variables indicating acidity (summer and winter pH and ANC) explained 10–20% of the variation in isolated lakes. Lake area was the most important physical variable, being significantly correlated with the variation in fish community composition in connected lakes. 4. In isolated lakes, the presence of pike (Esox lucius), perch (Perca fluviatilis) and roach (Rutilus rutilus) was associated with low CH₄. The occurrence of crucian carp (Carassius carassius) and roach was positively correlated with pH, and the crucian carp was apparently also affected by predation by pike and perch. In connected lakes the effect of anoxia was low, probably due to the possibility of recolonisation and pockets of oxygenated water, allowing pike and perch to persist and thereby limiting the distribution of crucian carp.