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The temperature response of ecosystem processes is key to understand and predict impacts of climate change. This is especially true for respiration, given its high temperature sensitivity and major role in the global carbon cycle. However, similar intrinsic temperature sensitivity for respiration does not mean comparable temperature effects across ecosystems and biomes because non-temperature factors can be more important. Here we analyzed soil and sediment respiration data and found that in temperature ranges corresponding to high latitude mean temperatures, absolute respiration rates are more sensitive to non-temperature factors than to projected direct temperature effects. However, at higher temperatures (>20 degrees C) the direct effect of temperature mediated by temperature sensitivity will likely be more important over changes in non-temperature factors in shaping how respiration change over time. This supports past suggestions that the relatively small projected temperature increase at low (tropical) latitudes may have a large direct impact on absolute respiration. In contrast, absolute respiration rates at high (boreal/arctic) latitudes will likely be more sensitive on the development of the non-temperature factors than on the direct effects of the large projected temperature increase there. Social media abstract. Respiration may be less dependent to changes in temperature at higher than lower latitudes., Funding Agencies|VetenskapsradetSwedish Research Council [2020-01979, 2018-01794]; Knut and Alice Wallenberg FoundationKnut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation [201243506-98683-24, 2016-04829]; European Research CouncilEuropean Research Council (ERC)European Commission [2016.0083]; [725546]

Sediments of northern lakes sequester large amounts of organic carbon (OC), but direct evidence of the relative importance of their sources is lacking. We used stable isotope ratios of nonexchangeable hydrogen (δ2Hn) in topsoil, algae, and surface sediments in order to measure the relative contribution of terrestrial OC in surface sediments of 14 mountainous arctic and lowland boreal lakes in Sweden. The terrestrial contribution to the sediment OC pool was on average 66% (range 46–80) and similar between arctic and boreal lakes. Proxies for the supply of terrestrial and algal OC explained trends in the relative contribution of terrestrial OC across lakes. However, the data suggest divergent predominant sources for terrestrial OC of sediments in Swedish lakes, with dissolved matter dominating in lowland boreal lakes and particulate OC in mountainous arctic lakes.

Lakes are globally significant sources of CO2 to the atmosphere. However, there are few temporally resolved records of lake CO2 concentrations and long-term patterns are poorly characterized. We evaluated annual trends in the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO(2)) based on chemical measurements from 31 Adirondack Lakes taken monthly over an 18 year period. All lakes were supersaturated with CO2 and were sources of CO2 to the atmosphere. There were significant pCO2 trends in 29% of lakes. The median magnitude of significant positive trends was 32.1 mu atm yr(-1). Overall, 52% of lakes had pCO(2) trends greater than those reported for the atmosphere and ocean. Significant trends in lake pCO(2) were attributable to regional recovery from acid deposition and changing patterns of ice cover. These results illustrate that lake pCO(2) can respond rapidly to environmental change, but the lack of significant trend in 71% of lakes indicates substantial lake-to-lake variation in magnitude of response.

Methane-derived carbon can be important in both benthic and pelagic food webs. Either generated in the anaerobic layers of the sediment or in the anaerobic hypolimnion of stratified eutrophic lakes, methane is an excellent carbon source for aerobic methanotrophic bacteria. The very negative methane delta C-13-signal in the methanotrophic biomass provides an excellent opportunity to trace the use of methane-derived carbon in food webs. We studied carbon sources of benthic bacteria in a range of Swedish lakes with different inputs of terrestrial organic carbon and indigenous primary production. We analyzed the C-13:C-12 ratios in phospholipid-derived fatty acids, which serve as biomarkers for specific groups of Bacteria. We demonstrate that methane is an important carbon source for sediment bacteria, not only for the methanotrophic community but also for the non-methanotrophic heterotrophic bacteria. This most likely indirect utilization of isotopically highly depleted methane masks the stable isotope signatures for terrestrial input and local primary production in the heterotrophic bacterial community.

Temperature alone explains a great amount of variation in sediment organic carbon (OC) mineralization. Studies on decomposition of soil OC suggest that (1) temperature sensitivity differs between the fast and slowly decomposition OC and (2) over time, decreasing soil respiration is coupled with increase in temperature sensitivity. In lakes, autochthonous and allochthonous OC sources are generally regarded as fast and slowly decomposing OC, respectively. Lake sediments with different contributions of allochthonous and autochthonous components, however, showed similar temperature sensitivity in short-term incubation experiments. Whether the mineralization of OC in lake sediments dominated by allochthonous or autochthonous OC has different temperature sensitivity in the longer term has not been addressed. We incubated sediments from two boreal lakes that had contrasting OC origin (allochthonous versus autochthonous), and OC characteristics (C/N ratios of 21 and 10) at 1, 3, 5, 8, 13, and 21 degrees C for five months. Compared to soil and litter mineralization, sediment OC mineralization rates were low in spite of low apparent activation energy (E-a). The fraction of the total OC pool that was lost during five months varied between 0.4 and 14.8%. We estimate that the sediment OC pool not becoming long-term preserved was degraded with average apparent turnover times between 3 and 32years. While OC mineralization was strongly dependent on temperature as well as on OC composition and origin, temperature sensitivity was similar across lakes and over time. We suggest that the temperature sensitivity of OC mineralization in lake sediments is similar across systems within the relevant seasonal scales of OC supply and degradation.

Inland water sediments receive large quantities of terrestrial organic matter(1-5) and are globally important sites for organic carbon preservation(5,6). Sediment organic matter mineralization is positively related to temperature across a wide range of high-latitude ecosystems(6-10), but the situation in the tropics remains unclear. Here we assessed temperature effects on the biological production of CO2 and CH4 in anaerobic sediments of tropical lakes in the Amazon and boreal lakes in Sweden. On the basis of conservative regional warming projections until 2100 (ref. 11), we estimate that sediment CO2 and CH4 production will increase 9-61% above present rates. Combining the CO2 and CH4 as CO2 equivalents (CO(2)eq; ref. 11), the predicted increase is 2.4-4.5 times higher in tropical than boreal sediments. Although the estimated lake area in low latitudes is 3.2 times smaller than that of the boreal zone, we estimate that the increase in gas production from tropical lake sediments would be on average 2.4 times higher for CO2 and 2.8 times higher for CH4. The exponential temperature response of organic matter mineralization, coupled with higher increases in the proportion of CH4 relative to CO2 on warming, suggests that the production of greenhouse gases in tropical sediments will increase substantially. This represents a potential large-scale positive feedback to climate change.

The abundance and composition of genes involved in the catabolism of aromatic compounds provide important information on the biodegradation potential of organic pollutants and naturally occurring compounds in the environment. We studied catechol 2, 3 dioxygenase (C23O) and benzylsuccinate synthase (bssA) genes coding for key enzymes of aerobic and anaerobic degradation of aromatic compounds in experimental incubations with sediments from two contrasting lakes; humic lake Svarttjärn and eutrophic Vallentunasjön, respectively. Sediment cores from both lakes were incubated continuously for 5 months at constant temperatures ranging from 1.0 to 21.0 °C. The difference in C23O gene composition of the sediment analyzed at the end of the experiment was larger between lakes, than among temperature treatments within each lake. The abundance of C23O gene copies and measured respiration was positively correlated with temperature in Vallentunasjön, whereas putative C23O genes were present in lower concentrations in Svarttjärn sediments. Putative bssA genes were only detected in Svarttjärn. For both lakes, the two catabolic genes were most abundant in the surface sediment. The results emphasize the important role of temperature and nutrient availability in controlling the functional potential of sediment microorganisms and reveal differences between systems with contrasting trophic status. A better understanding of catabolic pathways and enzymes will enable more accurate forecasting of the functional properties of ecosystems under various scenarios of environmental change.

Close to redox boundaries, dark carbon fixation by chemoautotrophic bacteria may be a large contributor to overall carbon fixation. Still, little is known about the relative importance of this process in lake systems, in spite the potentially high chemoautotrophic potential of lake sediments. We compared rates of dark carbon fixation, bacterial production and oxygen consumption in sediments from four Swedish boreal and seven tropical Brazilian lakes. Rates were highly variable and dark carbon fixation amounted up to 80% of the total heterotrophic bacterial production. The results indicate that non-photosynthetic carbon fixation can represent a substantial contribution to bacterial biomass production, especially in sediments with low organic matter content.

Close to redox boundaries, dark carbon fixation by chemoautotrophic bacteria may be a large contributor to overall carbon fixation. Still, little is known about the relative importance of this process in lake systems, in spite the potentially high chemoautotrophic potential of lake sediments. We compared rates of dark carbon fixation, bacterial production and oxygen consumption in sediments from four Swedish boreal and seven tropical Brazilian lakes. Rates were highly variable and dark carbon fixation amounted up to 80% of the total heterotrophic bacterial production. The results indicate that non-photosynthetic carbon fixation can represent a substantial contribution to bacterial biomass production, especially in sediments with low organic matter content., Funding Agencies|STINT (Sweden)||CNPq (Brazil)||Brazilian Research Council (CNPq)

Bacteria are highly diverse and drive a bulk of ecosystem processes. Analysis of relationships between diversity and single specific ecosystem processes neglects the possibility that different species perform multiple functions at the same time. The degradation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) followed by respiration is a key bacterial function that is modulated by the availability of DOC and the capability to produce extracellular enzymes. In freshwater ecosystems, biofilms are metabolic hotspots and major sites of DOC degradation. We manipulated the diversity of biofilm forming communities which were fed with DOC differing in availability. We characterized community composition using molecular fingerprinting (T-RFLP) and measured functioning as oxygen consumption rates, the conversion of DOC in the medium, bacterial abundance and the activities of five specific enzymes. Based on assays of the extracellular enzyme activity, we calculated how the likelihood of sustaining multiple functions was affected by reduced diversity. Carbon source and biofilm age were strong drivers of community functioning, and we demonstrate how the likelihood of sustaining multifunctionality decreases with decreasing diversity.

1. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of different nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) loading ratios on phytoplankton community composition and primary production in a naturally eutrophic lake. Furthermore, the sources of N fuelling primary production were estimated using 15N stable isotope tracers. 2. A mesocosm experiment was performed with the same amount of P added to all mesocosms (similar to internal loading rates) but with a range of N additions (0–86 μm N), resulting in a gradient of N : P supply ratios. 3. Low N : P supply ratios resulted in a significant shift in the phytoplankton assemblage to a community dominated by N-fixing cyanobacteria and a supply of atmospheric N2 estimated to be up to 60% of total supply. 4. The N : P loading ratio had no significant effect on primary production, total nitrogen (TN) concentration or particulate N concentration. 5. Our results imply that a reduced N : P ratio of the nutrient load does not necessarily result in a lower TN concentration and downstream N export due to compensation by N-fixing cyanobacteria.

1. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of different nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) loading ratios on phytoplankton community composition and primary production in a naturally eutrophic lake. Furthermore, the sources of N fuelling primary production were estimated using (15)N stable isotope tracers.2. A mesocosm experiment was performed with the same amount of P added to all mesocosms (similar to internal loading rates) but with a range of N additions (0-86 mu m N), resulting in a gradient of N : P supply ratios.3. Low N : P supply ratios resulted in a significant shift in the phytoplankton assemblage to a community dominated by N-fixing cyanobacteria and a supply of atmospheric N(2) estimated to be up to 60% of total supply.4. The N : P loading ratio had no significant effect on primary production, total nitrogen (TN) concentration or particulate N concentration.5. Our results imply that a reduced N : P ratio of the nutrient load does not necessarily result in a lower TN concentration and downstream N export due to compensation by N-fixing cyanobacteria., 394TITimes Cited:5Cited References Count:51394TITimes Cited:7Cited References Count:51

Temperature alone can explain a great amount of variation in sediment organic carbon (OC) mineralization. Studies on decomposition of soil OC suggest that the temperature sensitivity is different for the decomposition of labile and recalcitrant OC, but lake sediments with different contributions of labile and recalcitrant components have been reported to show similar temperature sensitivities. Sediment mineralization is typically measured in short-term incubations. However, whether the mineralization of OC in sediments dominated by recalcitrant and labile OC have different temperature sensitivities at the longer term is not clear. Here we show that during 5 months of continuous incubation of contrasting boreal lake sediments, sediment mineralization was strongly dependent on temperature and OC quality/origin but temperature sensitivity was similar across lakes and over time. Sediment mineralization showed low overall rates in spite of low apparent activation energy (Ea) compared to published rates of soil and litter mineralization. The fraction of the total OC pool that was lost during 5 months varied between 0.4 and 14%. The non-buried sediment OC pool was lost slowly, with apparent turnover times between 2.5 and 32 years. At a large scale, lake sediments, by showing lower mineralization rates than soils are more effective as carbon sinks.