Northern peatlands are an important carbon store, with carbon dynamics and hydrology intrinsically linked. The riparian zone is the interface between the terrestrial and aquatic systems, situated adjacent to the stream and characterised by periodic flooding, near surface water tables and unique soil and plant species composition. Due to its unique biogeochemical environment, the riparian zone has the potential to modify significantly the production, mobilisation and transport of carbon via the land-atmosphere and aquatic pathways. Two contrasting headwater catchments, an ombrotrophic peatland (Auchencorth Moss, SE Scotland) and a forested, till dominated catchment (Västrabäcken, N Sweden), were investigated. In each carbon concentrations in soil and stream water and hydrological parameters were measured in transects connecting the wider catchment, riparian zone and stream. The overarching aim was to investigate the role of the riparian zone on the hydrological and bio-geochemical functioning of peatland and forested catchments, focusing on carbon export via the aquatic pathway. Specific objectives were to: a) examine the importance of soils, water table and vegetation composition on riparian biogeochemical cycling, b) investigate riparian-stream hydrological connectivity and the transport of carbon across the soil-water interface and c) assess riparian processes in relation to the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) across northern latitude ecosystems. Porewater total carbon (TC) concentrations (sum of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon (DOC, DIC), CO2 and CH4) were on average higher in Auchencorth Moss (78.8-140 mg C L-1) than the Västrabäcken (27.7-63.2 mg C L-1) catchment. In both catchments, higher TC concentrations were observed in the riparian zone compared to the wider catchment. The dominant control for differentiating between catchment and riparian biogeochemical processes was the higher average riparian water table with each carbon species displaying a positive relationship with water table height. A range of other factors, including soil temperature and the carbon content of catchment and riparian soils, also contributed to the complexity of riparian carbon biogeochemical cycles. Catchment specific phenomena, including the presence of aerenchymous vegetation and stream sediment deposition onto the riparian zone, modified riparian carbon dynamics in the Auchencorth Moss catchment. Isotopically, porewater DOC, CO2 and CH4 had a 14C content >100 %modern, indicating that the modern plant derived DOC is being transported down the soil profile, providing the source for CO2 and CH4 production at depth. In both catchments the riparian zone represented an important and dynamic source of carbon to stream waters. Total annual CO2 export from the riparian zone of the Västrabäcken catchment to the stream channel over the hydrological year was 2.7 g CO2-C m2 yr-1 with export predominantly from between 40 and 55 cm depth within the soil. Two monthly peaks in CO2 export occurred over the hydrological year related to either storm events or the spring snow melt period which accounted for 19 % of annual export, highlighting the temporal variability in soil-stream linkages, especially during high flow periods. In the generally wetter peatland catchment, riparian-stream linkages were driven by antecedent conditions and variation in riparian water table, with changes in water input, rather than changes in CO2 source concentrations, controlling stream water composition. The negative CO2 concentration-discharge relationship in the stream suggested that event water dominated, with small but important inputs from high concentration soil water during individual events. The importance of event water in transporting carbon was confirmed through the isotope result. CO2, CH4 and DOC exported via the aquatic pathway predominantly contained modern, plant derived carbon from the near surface soil horizons but with a small contribution (5-28 %) from deeper geological sources leading to aged evasion CH4 (310-537 years BP) and CO2 (36 years BP to modern). In both catchments the riparian zone was more important, relative to the wider catchment, in controlling the export of carbon via the aquatic pathway. At Auchencorth Moss, the riparian zone, plus an area of the catchment extending ~20 m from the stream, were hotspots for land-atmosphere fluxes of CH4, with mean flux of 1.08-7.70 mg m2 hr-1 in comparison to the catchment overall (0.05 mg m2 hr-1). In both catchments, combining detailed catchment hydrological models with high temporal resolution carbon concentration measurements, especially in riparian zone soils, has the potential to improve estimates of downstream and evaded carbon export in headwater catchments. Riparian zones should therefore be included more in studies investigating hydrological and biogeochemical processes in northern latitude headwater catchments. The processes within riparian zones suggest that despite the relatively small area that riparian zones represent, in relation to the wider catchment, they may play an important role in the NECB of peatland and forested catchments under future management and climate change scenarios.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:699974 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Leith, Fraser Iain |
| Contributors | Heal, Kate ; Billett, Mike ; Dinsmore, Kerry |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/17602 |
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