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Eutrophication of fresh waters results in increased CO2 uptake by primary production, but at the same time increased emissions of CH4 to the atmosphere. Given the contrasting effects of CO2 uptake and CH4 release, the net effect of eutrophication on the CO2‐equivalent balance of fresh waters is not clear. We measured carbon fluxes (CO2 and CH4 diffusion, CH4 ebullition) and CH4 oxidation in 20 freshwater mesocosms with 10 different nutrient concentrations (total phosphorus range: mesotrophic 39 µg/L until hypereutrophic 939 µg/L) and planktivorous fish in half of them. We found that the CO2‐equivalent balance had a U‐shaped relationship with productivity, up to a threshold in hypereutrophic systems. CO2‐equivalent sinks were confined to a narrow range of net ecosystem production (NEP) between 5 and 19 mmol O2 m−3 day−1. Our findings indicate that eutrophication can shift fresh waters from sources to sinks of CO2‐equivalents due to enhanced CO2 uptake, but continued eutrophication enhances CH4 emission and transforms freshwater ecosystems to net sources of CO2‐equivalents to the atmosphere. Nutrient enrichment but also planktivorous fish presence increased productivity, thereby regulating the resulting CO2‐equivalent balance. Increasing planktivorous fish abundance, often concomitant with eutrophication, will consequently likely affect the CO2‐equivalent balance of fresh waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many surface waters across the boreal region are browning due to increased concentrations of colored allochthonous dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Browning may stimulate heterotrophic metabolism, may have a shading effect constraining primary production, and may acidify the water leading to decreased pH with a subsequent shift in the carbonate system. All these effects are expected to result in increased lake water carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. We tested here these expectations by assessing the effects of both altered allochthonous DOC input and light conditions through shading on lake water CO2 concentrations. We used two mesocosm experiments with water from the meso‐eutrophic Lake Erken, Sweden, to determine the relative importance of bacterial activities, primary production, and shifts in the carbonate system on CO2 concentrations. We found that DOC addition and shading resulted in a significant increase in partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in all mesocosms. Surprisingly, there was no relationship between bacterial activities and pCO2. Instead the experimental reduction of light by DOC and/or shading decreased the photosynthesis to respiration ratio leading to increased pCO2. Another driving force behind the observed pCO2 increase was a significant decrease in pH, caused by a decline in photosynthesis and the input of acidic DOC. Considering that colored allochthonous DOC may increase in a warmer and wetter climate, our results could also apply for whole lake ecosystems and pCO2 may increase in many lakes through a reduction in the rate of photosynthesis and decreased pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from terrestrial sources have been increasing in freshwaters across large parts of the boreal region. According to results from large-scale field and detailed laboratory studies, such a DOC increase could potentially stimulate carbon dioxide (CO2) production, subsequently increasing the partial pressure of CO2 ( pCO2) in freshwaters. However, the response of pCO2 to the presently observed long-term increase in DOC in freshwaters is still unknown. Here we tested whether the commonly found spatial DOC- pCO2 relationship is also valid on a temporal scale. Analyzing time series of water chemical data from 71 lakes, 30 streams, and 4 river mouths distributed across all of Sweden over a 17 year period, we observed significant DOC concentration increases in 39 lakes, 15 streams, and 4 river mouths. Significant pCO2 increases were, however, only observed in six of these 58 waters, indicating that long-term DOC increases in Swedish waters are disconnected from temporal pCO2 trends. We suggest that the uncoupling of trends in DOC concentration and pCO2 are a result of increased surface water runoff. When surface water runoff increases, there is likely less CO2 relative to DOC imported from soils into waters due to a changed balance between surface and groundwater flow. Additionally, increased surface water runoff causes faster water flushing through the landscape giving less time for in situ CO2 production in freshwaters. We conclude that pCO2 is presently not following DOC concentration trends, which has important implications for modeling future CO2 emissions from boreal waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]