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Riverine organic matter and nutrients in southeast Alaska affected by glacial coverage

Nature Geoscience volume 1, pages 583–587 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

The delivery of fresh water, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous from high-latitude regional watersheds is important to the ecology and nutrient balance of coastal marine ecosystems in the Northern1 and Southern2 hemispheres. Bioavailable dissolved organic matter from rivers can support microbes in near-shore environments, and may also stimulate primary production3,4. Recent studies suggest that impacts of climate change, such as thawing permafrost, may affect nutrient yields in large northern rivers5. Here we analyse riverine dissolved organic matter and nutrient loads in three adjacent coastal watersheds along the Gulf of Alaska. We find that different levels of glacial coverage can alter the timing and magnitude of fresh water, dissolved organic matter and nutrient yields. Our results suggest that a lower extent of glacial coverage within a watershed can lead to higher amounts of dissolved organic matter, but decreased phosphorous yields. Moreover, an abundance of early successional plant species following deglaciation can increase riverine nitrogen levels. We conclude that changes in riverine yields of dissolved organic matter and nutrients due to reductions in glacier extent in coastal watersheds may affect the productivity and function of near-shore coastal ecosystems.

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Figure 1: Map of glacier coverage within the study watersheds in southeastern Alaska.
Figure 2: Daily precipitation and DOC yields for 2006.
Figure 3: Long-term mean monthly and annual yields for the three study watersheds.
Figure 4: Relationship between δ18O of stream water and DOC/DON ratio of DOM.

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Acknowledgements

We thank L. Berner and J. Jones for valuable field assistance. L. Berner and K. Smikrud assisted with Fig. 1. C. Seibold at the Kiowa Lab in the University of Colorado Mountain Research Station provided major ion chemistry analyses. B. Vaughn at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research Stable Isotope Laboratory provided isotopic analyses. This work was supported by a Research Experience for Undergraduates Program grant from the US National Science Foundation to UAS (NSF-0553000), US Department of Agriculture National Research Initiative (grant 2005-35102-16289), and a University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor’s Fund grant to E.H.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Science Program, University of Alaska Southeast, 11120 Glacier Hwy, Juneau, Alaska 99801, USA

    Eran Hood

  2. Virginia Tech, Biological Systems Engineering, 200 Seitz Hall, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA

    Durelle Scott

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  1. Eran Hood
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  2. Durelle Scott
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Contributions

E.H. designed the study, participated in and guided the field sampling campaigns, and analysed water samples. E.H. and D.S carried out data analysis and D.S. did the watershed yield modelling. E.H. wrote the manuscript with substantial contributions from D.S.

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Correspondence to Eran Hood.

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Hood, E., Scott, D. Riverine organic matter and nutrients in southeast Alaska affected by glacial coverage. Nature Geosci 1, 583–587 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo280

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