Ecosystem respiration: Drivers of daily variability and background respiration in lakes around the globe

We assembled data from a global network of automated lake observatories to test hypotheses regarding the drivers of ecosystem metabolism. We estimated daily rates of respiration and gross primary production (GPP) for up to a full year in each lake, via maximum likelihood fits of a free‐water metabolism model to continuous high‐frequency measurements of dissolved oxygen concentrations. Uncertainties were determined by a bootstrap analysis, allowing lake‐days with poorly constrained rate estimates to be down‐weighted in subsequent analyses. GPP and respiration varied considerably among lakes and at seasonal and daily timescales. Mean annual GPP and respiration ranged from 0.1 to 5.0 mg O2 L−1 d−1 and were positively related to total phosphorus but not dissolved organic carbon concentration. Within lakes, significant day‐to‐day differences in respiration were common despite large uncertainties in estimated rates on some lake‐days. Daily variation in GPP explained 5% to 85% of the daily variation in respiration after temperature correction. Respiration was tightly coupled to GPP at a daily scale in oligotrophic and dystrophic lakes, and more weakly coupled in mesotrophic and eutrophic lakes. Background respiration ranged from 0.017 to 2.1 mg O2 L−1 d−1 and was positively related to indicators of recalcitrant allochthonous and autochthonous organic matter loads, but was not clearly related to an indicator of the quality of allochthonous organic matter inputs

Lake metabolism and the diel oxygen technique:state of the science

Significant improvements have been made in estimating gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (R), and net ecosystem production (NEP) from diel, “free-water” changes in dissolved oxygen (DO). Here we evaluate some of the assumptions and uncertainties that are still embedded in the technique and provide guidelines on how to estimate reliable metabolic rates from high-frequency sonde data. True whole-system estimates are often not obtained because measurements reflect an unknown zone of influence which varies over space and time. A minimum logging frequency of 30 min was sufficient to capture metabolism at the daily time scale. Higher sampling frequencies capture additional pattern in the DO data, primarily related to physical mixing. Causes behind the often large daily variability are discussed and evaluated for an oligotrophic and a eutrophic lake. Despite a 3-fold higher day-to-day variability in absolute GPP rates in the eutrophic lake, both lakes required at least 3 sonde days per week for GPP estimates to be within 20% of the weekly average. A sensitivity analysis evaluated uncertainties associated with DO measurements, piston velocity (k), and the assumption that daytime R equals nighttime R. In low productivity lakes, uncertainty in DO measurements and piston velocity strongly impacts R but has no effect on GPP or NEP. Lack of accounting for higher R during the day underestimates R and GPP but has no effect on NEP. We finally provide suggestions for future research to improve the technique

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

Four whole- lake inorganic C-13 addition experiments were conducted in lakes of differing trophic status. Inorganic C-13 addition enriched algal carbon in C-13 and changed the delta C-13- DOC by + 1.5 parts per thousand to + 9.5 parts per thousand, depending on the specific lake. This change in delta C-13- DOC represented a significant input of algal DOC that was not completely consumed by bacteria. We modeled the dynamics in delta C-13- 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 C-13 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