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Measuring the influence of environmental conditions on dissolved organic matter biodegradability and optical properties: a combined field and laboratory study

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Abstract

Fluorescence spectroscopy is a common tool to assess optical dissolved organic matter (DOM) and a number of characteristics, including DOM biodegradability, have been inferred from these analyses. However, recent findings on soil and DOM dynamics emphasize the importance of ecosystem-scale factors, such as physical separation of substrate from soil microbial communities and soil physiochemical cycles driving DOM stability. We apply this principle to soil derived DOM and hypothesize that optical properties can only supply information on biodegradability when evaluated in the larger ecosystem because substrate composition and the activity/abundance of the microbial community ultimately drive DOM degradation. To evaluate biodegradability in this context, we assessed aqueous soil extracts for water extractable organic carbon (WEOC) content, biodegradability, microbial biomass and DOM characteristics using fluorescence spectroscopy across a range of environmental conditions (covariant with season and land use) in northern Vermont, USA. Our results indicate that changes in environmental conditions affect composition, quantity, and biodegradability of DOM. WEOC concentrations were highest in the fall and lowest in the summer, while no significant differences were found between land covers; however, DOM biodegradability was significantly higher in the agricultural site across seasons. Despite a shift in utilized substrate from less aromatic DOM in summer to more aromatic DOM in winter, biodegradability was similar for all seasons. The only exception was cold temperature incubations where microbial activity was depressed, and processing was slowed. These results provide examples on how fluorescence based metrics can be combined with context relevant environmental parameters to evaluate bioavailability in the context of the larger ecosystem.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NSF OIA 1556770. We thank the Vermont EPSCoR Basin Resilience to Extreme Events (BREE) collaborators for access to their field sites, facilities and equipment, and use of data. We also thank the University of Vermont Geology department and Rubenstein school faculty and staff for their expertise and assistance during this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Biogeochemistry Lab, Geology Department, University of Vermont, 180 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA

    Maxwell Landsman-Gerjoi & Julia N. Perdrial

  2. Vermont EPSCoR Basin Resilience to Extreme Events (BREE), Burlington, VT, USA

    Julia N. Perdrial, Brittany Lancellotti, Erin Seybold, Andrew W. Schroth & Carol Adair

  3. Global Biogeochemistry Lab, Rubenstein School, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

    Carol Adair

  4. Geology Department, University of Vermont Burlington, Burlington, VT, USA

    Andrew W. Schroth

  5. Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA

    Adam Wymore

  6. Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Erin Seybold

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  1. Maxwell Landsman-Gerjoi
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Correspondence to Julia N. Perdrial.

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Landsman-Gerjoi, M., Perdrial, J.N., Lancellotti, B. et al. Measuring the influence of environmental conditions on dissolved organic matter biodegradability and optical properties: a combined field and laboratory study. Biogeochemistry 149, 37–52 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00664-9

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