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Turbidity Structures the Controls of Ecosystem Metabolism and Associated Metabolic Process Domains Along a 75-km Segment of a Semiarid Stream

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Abstract

Stream ecosystem metabolism contributes to global carbon cycling, yet predicting metabolism across ecosystems remains elusive. Even within stream segments, spatial variation in metabolic rates and their controls can be substantial, exhibiting sudden rather than continuous changes. We measured metabolism at 6 sites along a 75-km mainstem segment of Marsh Creek, Idaho. This agricultural stream lacks major geomorphic transitions such as tributaries or changes in valley width, but possesses patchy patterns of turbidity. We asked: (1) How variable is metabolism along this segment, and (2) How do the controls on metabolism vary along this segment? Metabolism varied several-fold along this stream segment. Average rates of gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and net ecosystem production (NEP) among sites did not correlate with water quality or aquatic macrophyte cover. Rather, reaches along this segment appear to represent different process domains that were characterized by turbidity: More turbid reaches saw negative effects of turbidity on GPP and NEP and positive effects on ER. Turbidity was associated with increased respiration and decoupled ER from GPP at turbid sites. Less turbid sites had stronger coupling between GPP and ER, and GPP was predicted by light and temperature. Heterogeneous sediment supply and transport capacity along Marsh Creek create patchy patterns of turbidity, which affects the controls on metabolism. Geomorphic controls on ecosystem processes are complex but not random. Understanding how metabolism and its controls vary across process domains is needed to scale up process rates and understand how process rates might respond to future changes.

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Honious, S.A., R.L. Hale, J.J. Guilinger, B.T. Crosby, and C.V. Baxter. 2021. Stream Metabolism in Marsh Creek, Idaho, USA 2016–2017 ver 1. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/c5dcdde09dbbee91764e3e6f5ee81696

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Acknowledgements

Three reviewers provided important feedback on this work. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation through EPSCoR Grant IIA 1301792, as part of the Idaho EPSCoR Program, and shared instrumentation through Idaho State University’s Center for Ecological Research and Education. Additional support was provided by the City of Pocatello's Science and Environment Division. Kyndra Hawkes and Katlyn Gonzalez provided valuable field and lab assistance. We thank the numerous private landowners who provided us access to their lands for this study.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, 83209, USA

    Sarah A. S. Honious, Rebecca L. Hale & Colden V. Baxter

  2. Department of Geosciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, 83209, USA

    James J. Guilinger & Benjamin T. Crosby

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  1. Sarah A. S. Honious
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  2. Rebecca L. Hale
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  3. James J. Guilinger
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  5. Colden V. Baxter
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Correspondence to Rebecca L. Hale.

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SH performed research, analyzed data, contributed new methods, and wrote the paper; RH conceived of study, contributed new methods, analyzed data, and wrote the paper; JG performed research, analyzed data, and wrote the paper; BC conceived of the study, contributed to analysis, and wrote the paper; CB contributed to analysis, interpretation, and writing of the paper.

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Honious, S.A.S., Hale, R.L., Guilinger, J.J. et al. Turbidity Structures the Controls of Ecosystem Metabolism and Associated Metabolic Process Domains Along a 75-km Segment of a Semiarid Stream. Ecosystems 25, 422–440 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-021-00661-5

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