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Sources and fates of dissolved organic carbon in lakes as determined by whole-lake carbon isotope additions

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Abstract

Four whole-lake inorganic 13C addition experiments were conducted in lakes of differing trophic status. Inorganic 13C addition enriched algal carbon in 13C and changed the \(\delta^{13}\)C-DOC by +1.5‰ to +9.5‰, depending on the specific lake. This change in \(\delta^{13}\)C-DOC represented a significant input of algal DOC that was not completely consumed by bacteria. We modeled the dynamics in \(\delta^{13}\)C-DOC to estimate the fluxes of algal and terrestrial carbon to and from the DOC pool, and determine the composition of the standing stock. Two experiments in lightly stained, oligotrophic lakes indicated that algal production was the source of about 20% of the DOC pool. In the following year, the experiment was repeated in one of these lakes under conditions of nutrient enrichment, and in a third, more humic lake. Algal contributions to the DOC pool were 40% in the nutrient enriched lake and 5% in the more humic lake. Spectroscopic and elemental analyses corroborated the presence of increased algal DOC in the nutrient enriched lake. Natural abundance measurements of the \(\delta^{13}\)C of DOC in 32 lakes also revealed the dual contributions of both terrestrial and algal carbon to DOC. From these results, we suggest an approach for inferring the contribution of algal and terrestrial DOC using easily measurable parameters.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Crystal Fankhauser, Molli MacDonald, Angela Modra, and R. Adam Ray for assistance in the field and laboratory, Kristi Judd and anonymous reviewers for helpful reviews and comments. Norma Haubenstock and Robert Drimmie provided isotope analysis. We thank Gary Belovsky and Karen Francl of the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center for supporting our field research and providing access to the experimental lakes used in this study. The University of Wisconsin Trout Lake Station aided with logistical support. This study was made possible by financial support from the National Science Foundation (Grant No.’s DEB-0414262 and OPP-0097182) and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This is a contribution to the UW-Madison Center for Limnology and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

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  1. Darren L. Bade

    Present address: Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, New York, 12545, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 680 N. Park St., Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Darren L. Bade & Stephen R. Carpenter

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

    Jonathan J. Cole, Michael L. Pace & Matthew C. Van de Bogert

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

    Emma Kritzberg

  4. Institute of Arctic & Alpine Research; Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA

    Rose M. Cory & Diane M. McKnight

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  1. Darren L. Bade
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Bade, D.L., Carpenter, S.R., Cole, J.J. et al. Sources and fates of dissolved organic carbon in lakes as determined by whole-lake carbon isotope additions. Biogeochemistry 84, 115–129 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-006-9013-y

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