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Bacterial Growth on Allochthonous Carbon in Humic and Nutrient-enriched Lakes: Results from Whole-Lake 13C Addition Experiments

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Abstract

Organic carbon (C) in lakes originates from two distinct sources—primary production from within the lake itself (autochthonous supply) and importation of organic matter from the terrestrial watershed (allochthonous supply). By manipulating the 13C of dissolved inorganic C, thereby labeling within-lake primary production, we examined the relative importance of autochthonous and allochthonous C in supporting bacterial production. For 35 days, NaH13CO3 was added daily to two small, forested lakes. One of the lakes (Peter) was fertilized so that primary production exceeded total respiration in the epilimnion. The other lake (Tuesday), in contrast, was low in productivity and had high levels of colored dissolved organic C (DOC). To obtain bacterial C isotopes, bacteria were regrown in situ in particle-free lake water in dialysis tubes. The contribution of allochthonous C to bacterial biomass was calculated by applying a two-member mixing model. In the absence of a direct measurement, the isotopic signature of the autochthonous end-member was estimated indirectly by three different approaches. Although there was excess primary production in Peter Lake, bacterial biomass consisted of 43–46% allochthonous C. In Tuesday Lake more than 75% of bacterial growth was supported by allochthonous C. Although bacteria used autochthonous C preferentially over allochthonous C, DOC from the watershed contributed significantly to bacterial production. In combination with results from similar experiments in different lakes, our findings suggest that the contribution of allochthonous C to bacterial production can be predicted from ratios of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (a surrogate for allochthonous supply) and chlorophyll a (a surrogate for autochthonous supply).

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for financial support from the National Science Foundation (DEB 9509595), the Swedish Research Council (VR; contract B 5103-649), and the Crafoord Foundation. We thank M. Van de Bogert, D. Bade, G. Birgersson, and C. Fankhauser for technical assistance. Work at the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center was facilitated by R. Hellenthal, J. Runde, G. Belovsky, and J. Caudel, and we thank B. Montgomery at ISOTEC for assistance with the purchase of the large quantity of 13C required for these experiments. Finally, we thank Robert Wetzel, Erik Jeppessen, and an anonymous reviewer for greatly improving a previous version of this paper. This is a contribution to the Department of Ecology/Limnology at Lund University and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology/Limnology, Lund University, Ecology Building, Lund, S-223 62, Sweden

    Emma S. Kritzberg & Wilhelm Granéli

  2. Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, New York, 12545, USA

    Jonathan J. Cole & Michael M. Pace

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  1. Emma S. Kritzberg
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  2. Jonathan J. Cole
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  3. Michael M. Pace
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  4. Wilhelm Granéli
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Correspondence to Emma S. Kritzberg.

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Kritzberg, E.S., Cole, J.J., Pace, M.M. et al. Bacterial Growth on Allochthonous Carbon in Humic and Nutrient-enriched Lakes: Results from Whole-Lake 13C Addition Experiments. Ecosystems 9, 489–499 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-005-0115-5

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