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Estimating ecosystem metabolism from continuous multi-sensor measurements in the Seine River

  • Spatial and temporal patterns of anthropogenic influence in a large river basin. A multidisciplinary approach
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Abstract

Large rivers are important components of the global C cycle. While they are facing an overall degradation of their water quality, little remains known about the dynamics of their metabolism. In the present study, we used continuous multi-sensors measurements to assess the temporal variability of gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) rates of the anthropized Seine River over an annual cycle. Downstream from the Paris urban area, the Seine River is net heterotrophic at the annual scale (−226 gO2 m−2 year−1 or −264 gC m−2 year−1). Yet, it displays a net autotrophy at the daily and seasonal scales during phytoplankton blooms occurring from late winter to early summer. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify the drivers of river metabolism. Daily GPP is best predicted by chlorophyll a (Chla), water temperature (T), light, and rainfalls, and the coupling of daily GPP and Chla allows for the estimation of the productivity rates of the different phytoplankton communities. ER rates are mainly controlled by T and, to a lesser extent, by Chla. The increase of combined sewer overflows related to storm events during the second half of the year stimulates ER and the net heterotrophy of the river. River metabolism is, thus, controlled at different timescales by factors that are affected by human pressures. Continuous monitoring of river metabolism must, therefore, be pursued to deepen our understanding about the responses of ecosystem processes to changing human pressures and climate.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the R2DS 2010 CarboSeine and PIREN-Seine research programs and also supported by a CIFRE grant awarded to N. Escoffier with Nke Instrumentation. L. Vilmin also benefited from a PhD fellowship funded by the Ile-de-France R2DS CarboSeine project. Most of the authors belong to the FR3020 FIRE (Fédération Ile-de-France de Recherche en Environnement). The authors thank the colleagues of the UMR 7245, Equipe CCE of the National Museum of Natural History for providing help on fluorometer calibration and phytoplankton analyses. The authors are also grateful to two reviewers for their useful comments.

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Author notes

  1. N. Escoffier

    Present address: Stream Biofilm and Ecosystem Research Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Station 2, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

  2. L. Vilmin

    Present address: Department of Earth Sciences—Geochemistry, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, UMR 7154 CNRS, 75005, Paris, France

    N. Escoffier, F. Métivier & A. Groleau

  2. IPSO-FACTO, SCOP arl, Pôle Océanologie et Limnologie, 10, rue Guy Fabre, 13001, Marseille, France

    N. Bensoussan

  3. Mines ParisTech, PSL Research University, Centre de Géosciences, 35, rue Saint-Honoré, 77305, Fontainebleau, France

    L. Vilmin & N. Flipo

  4. Syndicat Interdépartemental pour l’Assainissement de l’Agglomération Parisienne, Direction du Développement et de la Prospective, 82 avenue Kléber, 92700, Colombes, France

    V. Rocher

  5. Nke Instrumentation, Z.I. de Kérandré, rue Gutenberg, 56700, Hennebont, France

    N. Escoffier & A. David

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  1. N. Escoffier
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Correspondence to N. Escoffier.

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Escoffier, N., Bensoussan, N., Vilmin, L. et al. Estimating ecosystem metabolism from continuous multi-sensor measurements in the Seine River. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 23451–23467 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7096-0

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