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Sources and sinks of dissolved organic carbon in a forested swamp catchment

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Abstract

Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were measured in precipitation, throughfall, stemflow, and soil, peat and stream water in a 50 ha catchment with a central 5 ha swamp at Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec. DOC concentrations in precipitation were low (2.0 mg L−1), but increased in passage through the tree canopies as throughfall (9.1–14.6 mg L−1) and stemflow (23.1–30.1 mg L−1). For the period July 1–November 15, 1987, 0.5 g DOC m−2 was imported as precipitation, and forest canopies contributed a further 1.4–1.7 g m−2 2 to the soil surface. DOC concentrations were higher (46.0 and 67.6 mg L−1) in upland soil organic horizons, but decreased with depth because subsoil mineral horizons acted as a major sink of DOC. A laboratory experiment using leaf leachate revealed that subsoil horizons were able to adsorb DOC, with equilibrium DOC concentrations ranging from 3 to 19 mg L−1. Soil organic carbon appeared to be an important determinant of equilibrium DOC concentrations. The swamp was a major source of DOC, with an overall average DOC concentration of 58.6 mg L−1 and showed strong spatial and temporal variations related to hydrologic and thermal regimes. During base flow periods, stream DOC concentrations were small (< 3 mg L−1), dominated by water fed from springs draining upland soils. During high flows, stream DOC concentrations increased through the contribution of DOC-rich water originating in the swamp. Sources, sinks and transport of DOC are thus a function of a complex set of inter-related biotic and abiotic process.

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  1. Department of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke St. W., Montreal, Canada, H3A 2K6

    M. Dalva & T. R. Moore

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  1. M. Dalva
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  2. T. R. Moore
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Dalva, M., Moore, T.R. Sources and sinks of dissolved organic carbon in a forested swamp catchment. Biogeochemistry 15, 1–19 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002806

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002806

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