Dynamic interactions of ecohydrological and biogeochemical processes in water-limited systems

Water is the essential reactant, catalyst, or medium for many biogeochemical reactions, thus playing an important role in the activation and deactivation of biogeochemical processes. The coupling b ..

Modeling whole-tree carbon assimilation rate using observed transpiration rates and needle sugar carbon isotope ratios

• Understanding controls over plant–atmosphere CO2 exchange is important for quantifying carbon budgets across a range of spatial and temporal scales. In this study, we used a simple approach to estimate whole-tree CO2 assimilation rate (ATree) in a subalpine forest ecosystem. • We analysed the carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) of extracted needle sugars and combined it with the daytime leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit to estimate tree water-use efficiency (WUE). The estimated WUE was then combined with observations of tree transpiration rate (E) using sap flow techniques to estimate ATree. Estimates of ATree for the three dominant tree species in the forest were combined with species distribution and tree size to estimate and gross primary productivity (GPP) using an ecosystem process model. • A sensitivity analysis showed that estimates of ATree were more sensitive to dynamics in E than δ13C. At the ecosystem scale, the abundance of lodgepole pine trees influenced seasonal dynamics in GPP considerably more than Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir because of its greater sensitivity of E to seasonal climate variation. • The results provide the framework for a nondestructive method for estimating whole-tree carbon assimilation rate and ecosystem GPP over daily-to weekly time scales

Variability in soil respiration across riparian-hillslope transitions

The spatial and temporal controls on soil CO2 production and surface CO2 efflux have been identified as outstanding gaps in our understanding of carbon cycling. We investigated both across two riparian-hillslope transitions in a subalpine catchment, northern Rocky Mountains, Montana. Riparian-hillslope transitions provide ideal locations for investigating the controls on soil CO2 dynamics due to strong, natural gradients in the factors driving respiration, including soil water content (SWC) and soil temperature. We measured soil air CO2 concentrations (20 and 50 cm), surface CO2 efflux, soil temperature, and SWC at eight locations. We investigated (1) how soil CO2 concentrations differed within and between landscape positions; (2) how the timing of peak soil CO2 concentrations varied across riparian and hillslope zones; and (3) whether higher soil CO2 concentrations necessarily resulted in higher efflux (i.e. did surface CO2 efflux follow patterns of subsurface CO2)? Soil CO2 concentrations were significantly higher in the riparian zones, likely due to higher SWC. The timing of peak soil CO2 concentrations also differed between riparian and hillslope zones, with highest hillslope concentrations near peak snowmelt and highest riparian concentrations during the late summer and early fall. Surface CO2 efflux was relatively homogeneous at monthly timescales as a result of different combinations of soil CO2 production and transport, which led to equifinality in efflux across the transects. However, efflux was 57% higher in the riparian zones when integrated to cumulative growing season efflux, and suggests higher riparian soil CO2 production

Summer dry-down modulates the isotopic composition of soil CO2 production in snow-dominated landscapes

In mountainous landscapes, soil moisture is highly dynamic due to the effects of topography and the temporal variability imposed by seasonal precipitation, including rainfall and snow. Soil moisture is known to affect ecosystem carbon exchange both aboveground and belowground, as well as the stable isotopic composition of exchanged CO 2 . In this study we used an extensive suite of measurements to examine the effects of seasonal changes in soil moisture on the isotopic composition of soil CO 2 production at the landscape level. We show that the seasonal decline in soil moisture (i.e., summer dry-down) appeared to impose a trend in the δ 13 C of soil CO 2 production (δ P ) with more negative δ P early in the growing season when soils were wet, and more positive δ P as the growing season progressed and soils dried out. This seemingly generalizable pattern for a snow-dominated watershed is likely to represent the variability of recently assimilated C, tracked through the plant-soil system and imprinted in the respired CO 2 . Thus, our observations suggest that, at least for mountainous environments, seasonal changes in δ P are largely mediated by soil moisture and their spatial variability is partially organized by topography

Evaporation from a shallow, saline lake in the Nebraska Sandhills: Energy balance drivers of seasonal and interannual variability

Despite potential evaporation rates in excess of the local precipitation, dry climates often support saline lakes through groundwater inputs of water and associated solutes. These groundwater-fed lakes are important indicators of environmental change, in part because their shallow water levels and salinity are very sensitive to weather and climatic variability. Some of this sensitivity arises from high rates of open-water evaporation, which is a dominant but poorly quantified process for saline lakes. This study used the Bowen ratio energy budget method to calculate open-water evaporation rates for Alkali Lake, a saline lake in the Nebraska Sandhills region (central United States), where numerous groundwaterfed lakes occupy the landscape. Evaporation rates were measured during the warm season (May – October) over three consecutive years (2007–2009) to gain insights into the climatic and limnological factors driving evaporation, as well as the partitioning of energy balance components at seasonal and interannual time scales. Results show a seasonal peak in evaporation rate in late June of 7.0 mm day–1 (on average), with a maximum daily rate of 10.5 mm day–1 and a 3-year mean July-September (JAS) rate of 5.1 mm day–1, which greatly exceeds the long-term JAS precipitation rate of 1.3 mm day–1. Seasonal variability in lake evaporation closely follows that of net radiation and lake surface temperature, with sensible heat flux and heat storage variations being relatively small, except in response to short-term, synoptic events. Interannual changes in the surface energy balance were weak, by comparison, although a 6-fold increase in mean lake level over the three years (0.05–0.30 m) led to greater heat storage within the lake, an enhanced JAS lake-air temperature gradient, and greater sensible heat loss. These large variations in water level were also associated with large changes in absolute salinity (from 28 to 118 g kg–1), with periods of high salinity characterized by reductions in mass transfer estimates of evaporation rate by up to 20%, depending on atmospheric conditions and absolute salinity. Energy balance estimates of evaporation, on the other hand, were found to be less sensitive to variations in salinity. These results provide regional insights for lakes in the Nebraska Sandhills region and implications for estimation of the energy and water balance of saline lakes in similar arid and semi-arid landscapes

Weather whiplash in agricultural regions drives deterioration of water quality

Excess nitrogen (N) impairs inland water quality and creates hypoxia in coastal ecosystems. Agriculture is the primary source of N; agricultural management and hydrology together control aquatic ecosystem N loading. Future N loading will be determined by how agriculture and hydrology intersect with climate change, yet the interactions between changing climate and water quality remain poorly understood. Here, we show that changing precipitation patterns, resulting from climate change, interact with agricultural land use to deteriorate water quality. We focus on the 2012â2013 Midwestern U.S. drought as a ânatural experimentâ. The transition from drought conditions in 2012 to a wet spring in 2013 was abrupt; the media dubbed this âweather whiplashâ. We use recent (2010â2015) and historical data (1950â2015) to connect weather whiplash (drought-to-flood transitions) to increases in riverine N loads and concentrations. The drought likely created highly N-enriched soils; this excess N mobilized during heavy spring rains (2013), resulting in a 34% increase (10.5 vs. 7.8 mg N Lâ»Â¹) in the flow-weighted mean annual nitrate concentration compared to recent years. Furthermore, we show that climate change will likely intensify weather whiplash. Increased weather whiplash will, in part, increase the frequency of riverine N exceeding E.P.A. drinking water standards. Thus, our observations suggest increased climatic variation will amplify negative tren

Is Pretenure Interdisciplinary Research a Career Risk?

Despite initiatives to promote interdisciplinary research, early-career academics continue to perceive professional risks to working at the interface between traditional disciplines. Unexpectedly, the inherent practical challenges of interdisciplinary scholarship, such as new methodologies and lexicons, are not the chief source of the perceived risk. The perception of risk is pervasive across disciplines, and it persists despite efforts to support career development for individuals with common interests [Mitchell and Weiler, 2011]. Suggestions that interdisciplinary work can go unrewarded in academia [Clark et al., 2011] foster a concern that targeting interdisciplinary questions, such as those presented by climate change, will pose problems for acquiring and succeeding in a tenure-track position. If self-preservation limits the questions posed by early-career academics, a perceived career risk is as damaging as a real one to new transdisciplinary initiatives. Thus, institutions should address the source of this perception whether real or specious

Adding our leaves: A communityâ wide perspective on research directions in ecohydrology

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154539/1/hyp13693.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154539/2/hyp13693_am.pd