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Dissolved organic matter (DOM) characterization in subantarctic shallow lakes and beaver ponds

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Abstract

One important fraction of carbon (C) in aquatic environments is the dissolved organic matter (DOM). The present study analyzes the optical characteristics of DOM in two common freshwater environments from the southernmost area of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), shallow lakes and beaver ponds. In contrast to natural shallow lakes, beaver ponds are lentic water bodies created by beavers, which were introduced in the area in the past century. Based on absorbance and fluorescence techniques, we compared shallow lakes and beaver ponds in terms of DOM quantity and quality. Our results reveal that dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations ranged from ~ 3 to 9 mg L−1, and that DOM origin in all the studied environments was allochthonous and highly influenced by terrestrial inputs. The comparison between shallow lakes and beaver ponds showed significantly higher DOC concentration in shallow lakes, while DOM quality in beaver ponds was significantly different. The quality of DOM in beaver ponds was characterized by high aromaticity (SUVA index), high humic content (humification index) and low recently produced DOM (biological index). A possible explanation for this pattern is that they might be more influenced by terrestrial inputs, more likely due to the smaller size and the higher forest cover (~ 47% in comparison to ~ 28% in shallow lakes). Parallel factor modeling (PARAFAC) validated only two humic-like components. This study is the first report that compares DOM quantity and quality in Subantarctic shallow lakes and beaver ponds. Our results confirm the idea of the humic shallow lakes and enlighten new features of the DOM quality in beaver ponds.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Juan Miller from SIAG (Servicio de información Ambiental y Geográfica, CADIC) for providing us meteorological data; “Administración de Parques Nacionales”, that granted the permission to study the National Park; “Dirección General de Recursos Hídricos”, “Estancia Harberton” and Andrés from Valle Hermoso. We are grateful to the field assistance given by Julio Escobar, Laura Wolinski, Amalia Bursztyn Fuentes, Cecilia Gutierrez, Mariano Iseas, Verónica Pancotto, Lucía Chiberry, Florencia Rossi, María Granitto and Pablo Jusim. We are grateful to the three anonymous reviewers who kindly improved the quality of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported by Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (PICT 2019-0026, IR: Patricia García; PICT 2017-0164, IR: Patricia Rodríguez).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo de Ecología de Sistemas Acuáticos a Escala de Paisaje, Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente (INIBIOMA), Universidad Nacional del Comahue, CONICET, Quintral 1250, CP8400, Av. de los Pioneros 2350, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina

    María V. Castro & Patricia E. García

  2. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC), CONICET, 9410, Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia, Argentina

    María C. Maluendez Testoni & Patricia Rodríguez

  3. Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica de la Investigación, el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación, Godoy Cruz 2370, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    María C. Maluendez Testoni

  4. Instituto de Ciencias Polares, Ambiente Y Recursos Naturales (ICPA), Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia, Argentina

    Patricia Rodríguez

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  1. María V. Castro
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PR designed the study. MVC, MCMT and PR conducted the field measurements. MVC and PEG processed samples and data. MVC and PEG wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to María V. Castro.

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Castro, M.V., García, P.E., Maluendez Testoni, M.C. et al. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) characterization in subantarctic shallow lakes and beaver ponds. Aquat Sci 85, 72 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-023-00969-5

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