Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Metabolism, Gas Exchange, and Carbon Spiraling in Rivers

  • Published:
Ecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ecosystem metabolism, that is, gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER), controls organic carbon (OC) cycling in stream and river networks and is expected to vary predictably with network position. However, estimates of metabolism in small streams outnumber those from rivers such that there are limited empirical data comparing metabolism across a range of stream and river sizes. We measured metabolism in 14 rivers (discharge range 14–84 m3 s−1) in the Western and Midwestern United States (US). We estimated GPP, ER, and gas exchange rates using a Lagrangian, 2-station oxygen model solved in a Bayesian framework. GPP ranged from 0.6–22 g O2 m−2 d−1 and ER tracked GPP, suggesting that autotrophic production supports much of riverine ER in summer. Net ecosystem production, the balance between GPP and ER was 0 or greater in 4 rivers showing autotrophy on that day. River velocity and slope predicted gas exchange estimates from these 14 rivers in agreement with empirical models. Carbon turnover lengths (that is, the distance traveled before OC is mineralized to CO2) ranged from 38 to 1190 km, with the longest turnover lengths in high-sediment, arid-land rivers. We also compared estimated turnover lengths with the relative length of the river segment between major tributaries or lakes; the mean ratio of carbon turnover length to river length was 1.6, demonstrating that rivers can mineralize much of the OC load along their length at baseflow. Carbon mineralization velocities ranged from 0.05 to 0.81 m d−1, and were not different than measurements from small streams. Given high GPP relative to ER, combined with generally short OC spiraling lengths, rivers can be highly reactive with regard to OC cycling.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • APHA. 1998. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. 20th edn. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Battin T, Kaplan L, Findlay S, Hopkinson C, Marti E, Packman A, Newbold J, Sabater F. 2008. Biophysical controls on organic carbon fluxes in fluvial networks. Nat Geosci 1:95–100.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Battin TJ, Luyssaert S, Kaplan LA, Aufdenkampe AK, Richter A, Tranvik LJ. 2009. The boundless carbon cycle. Nat Geosci 2:598–600.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beaulieu JJ, Arango CP, Balz DA, Shuster WD. 2013. Continuous monitoring reveals multiple controls on ecosystem metabolism in a suburban stream. Freshw Biol 58:918–37.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bernot MJ, Sobota DJ, Hall RO, Mulholland PJ, Dodds WK, Webster JR, Tank JL, Ashkenas LR, Cooper LW, Dahm CN, Gregory SV, Grimm NB, Hamilton SK, Johnson SL, McDowell WH, Meyer JL, Peterson BJ, Poole GC, Valett HM, Arango CP, Beaulieu JJ, Burgin AJ, Crenshaw C, Helton AM, Johnson LT, Merriam J, Niederlehner BR, O’Brien JM, Potter JD, Sheibley RW, Thomas SM, Wilson K. 2010. Inter-regional comparison of land-use effects on stream metabolism. Freshw Biol 55:1874–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapra SC, Di Toro DM. 1991. Delta method for estimating primary production, respiration, and reaeration in streams. J Environ Eng 117:640–55.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Colangelo DJ. 2007. Response of river metabolism to restoration of flow in the Kissimmee River, Florida, USA. Fresh Biol 52:459–70.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cole JJ, Caraco NF. 1998. Atmospheric exchange of carbon dioxide in a low-wind oligotrophic lake measured by the addition of SF6. Limnol Oceanogr 43:647–56.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cole JJ, Caraco NF. 2001. Carbon in catchments: connecting terrestrial carbon losses with aquatic metabolism. Mar Freshw Res 52:101–10.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cross WF, Baxter CV, Rosi-Marshall EJ, Hall RO, Kennedy TA, Donner KC, Wellard Kelly HA, Seegert SEZ, Behn KE, Yard MD. 2013. Food-web dynamics in a large river discontinuum. Ecol Monogr 83:311–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis CJ, Fritsen CH, Wirthlin ED, Memmott JC. 2012. High rates of primary productivity in a semi-arid tailwater: implications for self-regulated production. River Res Appl 28:1820–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodds WK, Veach AM, Ruffing CM, Larson DM. 2013. Abiotic controls and temporal variability of river metabolism: multiyear analyses of Mississippi and Chattahoochee River data. Freshw Sci 32:1073–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finlay J. 2011. Stream size and human influences on ecosystem production in river networks. Ecosphere 2:art87. doi:10.1890/ES11-00071.1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Genzoli LA, Hall RO. In revision. Shifts in Klamath River metabolism following a reservoir cyanobacterial bloom. Freshw Sci.

  • Geyer CJ, Johnson LT. 2013. MCMC: Markov chain Monte Carlo. Package version 0.9-2. http://www.stat.umn.edu/geyer/mcmc/.

  • Griffiths NA, Tank JL, Royer TV, Warrner TJ, Frauendorf TC, Rosi-Marshall EJ, Whiles MR. 2012. Temporal variation in organic carbon spiraling in Midwestern agricultural streams. Biogeochemistry 108:149–69.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hall RO, Baker MA, Rosi-Marshall EJ, Tank JL. 2013. Solute specific scaling of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus uptake in streams. Biogeosciences 10:7323–31.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hall RO, Beaulieu JJ. 2013. Estimating autotrophic respiration in streams using daily metabolism data. Freshw Sci 32:507–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall RO, Kennedy TA, Rosi-Marshall EJ. 2012. Air-water oxygen exchange in a large whitewater river. Limnol Oceanogr Fluids Environ 2:1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall RO, Tank JL, Dybdahl M. 2003. Exotic snails dominate nitrogen and carbon cycling in a highly productive stream. Front Ecol Environ 1:407–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall RO, Yackulic CB, Kennedy TA, Yard MD, Rosi-Marshall EJ, Voichick N, Behn KE. 2015. Turbidity, light, temperature, and hydropeaking control daily variation in primary production in the Colorado River, Grand Canyon. Limnol Oceanogr 60:512–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heffernan JB, Cohen MJ. 2010. Direct and indirect coupling of primary production and diel nitrate dynamics in a subtropical spring-fed river. Limnol Oceanogr 55:677–88.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Holtgrieve GW, Schindler DE, Branch TA. 2010. Simultaneous quantification of aquatic ecosystem metabolism and reaeration using a Bayesian statistical model of oxygen dynamics. Limnol Oceanogr 55:1047–63.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hornberger GM, Kelly MG. 1975. Atmospheric reaeration in a river using productivity analysis. J Environ Eng Div 101:729–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huryn AD, Benstead JP, Parker SM. 2014. Seasonal changes in light availability modify the temperature dependence of ecosystem metabolism in an arctic stream. Ecology 95:2826–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jähne B, Haußecker H. 1998. Air-water gas exchange. Annu Rev Fluid Mech 30:443–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jankowski K, Schindler DE, Lisi PJ. 2014. Temperature sensitivity of community respiration rates in streams is associated with watershed geomorphic features. Ecology 95:2707–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcarelli AM, Baxter CV, Mineau MM, Hall RO. 2011. Quantity and quality: unifying food web and ecosystem perspectives on the role of resource subsidies in freshwaters. Ecology 92:1215–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McTammany ME, Webster JR, Benfield EF, Neatrour MA. 2003. Longitudinal patterns of metabolism in a southern Appalachian river. J N Am Benthol Soc 22:359–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer JL, Edwards RT. 1990. Ecosystem metabolism and turnover of organic carbon along a blackwater river continuum. Ecology 71:668–77.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy J, Riley JP. 1962. A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters. Anal Chim Acta 27:31–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Newbold JD, Mulholland PJ, Elwood JW, O’Neill RV. 1982. Organic carbon spiralling in stream ecosystems. Oikos 38:266–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odum HT. 1957. Trophic structure and productivity of Silver Springs, Florida. Ecol Monogr 27:55–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team. 2011. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing http://www.R-project.org/.

  • Raymond PA, Hartmann J, Lauerwald R, Sobek S, McDonald CP, Hoover M, Butman D, Striegl R, Mayorga E, Humborg C, Kortelainen P, Dürr H, Meybeck M, Cais P, Guth P. 2013. Global carbon dioxide emissions from inland waters. Nature 503:355–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Raymond PA, Zappa CJ, Butman D, Bott TL, Potter J, Mulholland P, Laursen AE, McDowell WH, Newbold D. 2012. Scaling the gas transfer velocity and hydraulic geometry in streams and small rivers. Limnol Oceanogr Fluids Environ 2:41–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reichert P, Uehlinger U, Acuña V. 2009. Estimating stream metabolism from oxygen concentrations: effect of spatial heterogeneity. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 114:G03016. doi:10.1029/2008JG000917.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts BJ, Mulholland PJ, Hill WR. 2007. Multiple scales of temporal variability in ecosystem metabolism rates: results from 2 years of continuous monitoring in a forested headwater stream. Ecosystems 10:588–606.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roley SS, Tank JL, Griffiths NA, Hall RO, Davis RT. 2014. The influence of floodplain restoration on whole-stream metabolism in an agricultural stream: insights from a 5-year continuous dataset. Freshw Sci 33:1043–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solorzano L. 1969. Determination of ammonia in natural water by the phenolhypochlorite method. Limnol Oceanogr 14:799–801.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Staehr PA, Baastrup-Spohr L, Sand-Jensen K, Stedmon C. 2012. Lake metabolism scales with lake morphometry and catchment conditions. Aquat Sci 74:155–69.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor BW, Flecker AS, Hall RO. 2006. Loss of a harvested fish species disrupts carbon flow in a diverse tropical river. Science 313:833–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas S, Royer T, Snyder E, Davis J. 2005. Organic carbon spiraling in an Idaho river. Aquat Sci 67:424–33.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thorp JH, Delong MD. 2002. Dominance of autochthonous autotrophic carbon in food webs of heterotrophic rivers. Oikos 96:543–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tranvik LJ, Downing JA, Cotner JB, Loiselle SA, Striegl RG, Ballatore TJ, Dillon P, Finlay K, Fortino K, Knoll LB. 2009. Lakes and reservoirs as regulators of carbon cycling and climate. Limnol Oceanogr 54:2298–314.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trexler JC, Travis J. 1993. Nontraditional regression analyses. Ecology 74:1629–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uehlinger U. 2006. Annual cycle and inter-annual variability of gross primary production and ecosystem respiration in a floodprone river during a 15-year period. Freshw Biol 51:938–50.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van de Bogert MC, Carpenter SR, Cole JJ, Pace ML. 2007. Assessing pelagic and benthic metabolism using free water measurements. Limnol Oceanogr Methods 5:145–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vannote RL, Minshall GW, Cummins KW, Sedell JR, Cushing CE. 1980. The river continuum concept. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 37:130–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webster JR. 2007. Spiraling down the river continuum: stream ecology and the U-shaped curve. J N Am Benthol Soc 26:375–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wetzels R, Wagenmakers E-J. 2012. A default Bayesian hypothesis test for correlations and partial correlations. Psychon Bull Rev 19:1057–64.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We heartily thank the River Gypsies, our trusty band of hard workers who helped immensely in our field campaigns between 2010 and 2012: CD Baxter, HA Bechtold, K Dahl, J Davis, LA Genzoli, MR Grace, SA Gregory, B Hanrahan, CF Johnson, D Kincaid, U Mahl, MM Miller, JD Ostermiller, D Oviedo, JD Reed, AJ Reisinger, T Royer, C Ruiz, E Salmon-Taylor, AL Saville, A Shogren, MR Schroer, MR Shupryt, and IJ Washbourne. U Mahl and I Washbourne measured solute concentrations. S. Ye calculated the lengths of rivers. RA Payn helped define the 2-station model. HL Madinger analyzed argon concentrations. We thank DE Schindler and two anonymous reviewers for comments greatly improving this paper. We also gratefully acknowledge a collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation that supported our research (DEB 09-21598, 09-22153, 09-22118, 10-07807).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Erin R. Hotchkiss

    Present address: Département des sciences biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA

    Robert O. Hall Jr.

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556, USA

    Jennifer L. Tank

  3. Department of Biology and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322, USA

    Michelle A. Baker

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

    Emma J. Rosi-Marshall

  5. Program in Ecology and Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA

    Erin R. Hotchkiss

Authors
  1. Robert O. Hall Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jennifer L. Tank
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michelle A. Baker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Emma J. Rosi-Marshall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Erin R. Hotchkiss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert O. Hall Jr..

Additional information

Author Contributions

ROH designed the study, conducted fieldwork, analyzed data, and wrote first draft of the paper. JLT, MAB, and EJR-M designed the study, conducted fieldwork, and wrote the paper. ERH conducted field and lab work and wrote the paper.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hall, R.O., Tank, J.L., Baker, M.A. et al. Metabolism, Gas Exchange, and Carbon Spiraling in Rivers. Ecosystems 19, 73–86 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-015-9918-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-015-9918-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation