University of Oulu

Costello, D. M., Tiegs, S. D., Boyero, L., Canhoto, C., Capps, K. A., Danger, M., et al. (2022). Global patterns and controls of nutrient immobilization on decomposing cellulose in riverine ecosystems. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 36, e2021GB007163. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GB007163

Global patterns and controls of nutrient immobilization on decomposing cellulose in riverine ecosystems

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Author: Costello, David M.1,2; Tiegs, Scott D.3; Boyero, Luz4,5;
Canhoto, Cristina6; Capps, Krista A.7,8; Danger, Michael9; Frost, Paul C.10; Gessner, Mark O.11,12; Griffiths, Natalie A.13,14; Halvorson, Halvor M.15; Kuehn, Kevin A.16; Marcarelli, Amy M.17; Royer, Todd, V18; Mathie, Devan M.1; Albarino, Ricardo J.19; Arango, Clay P.20; Aroviita, Jukka21; Baxter, Colden, V22; Bellinger, Brent J.23; Bruder, Andreas24; Burdon, Francis J.25; Callisto, Marcos26; Camacho, Antonio27; Colas, Fanny28; Cornut, Julien29; Crespo-Perez, Veronica30,31; Cross, Wyatt F.32; Derry, Alison M.33; Douglas, Michael M.34; Elosegi, Arturo4; Eyto, Elvira35; Ferreira, Veronica36; Ferriol, Carmen37; Fleituch, Tadeusz38; Shah, Jennifer J. Follstad39; Frainer, Andre40,41; Garcia, Erica A.42; Garcia, Liliana43; Garcia, Pavel E.44,45; Giling, Darren P.11,46,47; Gonzales-Pomar, R. Karina48; Graca, Manuel A. S.36; Grossart, Hans-Peter11,49; Guerold, Francois9; Hepp, Luiz U.50; Higgins, Scott N.51; Hishi, Takuo52; Iniguez-Armijos, Carlos53; Iwata, Tomoya54; Kirkwood, Andrea E.55; Koning, Aaron A.56; Kosten, Sarian57,58; Laudon, Hjalmar59; Leavitt, Peter R.60; Lemes da Silva, Aurea L.61; Leroux, Shawn J.62; LeRoy, Carri J.63; Lisi, Peter J.64; Masese, Frank O.65; McIntyre, Peter B.66; McKie, Brendan G.67; Medeiros, Adriana O.68; Milisa, Marko69; Miyake, Yo70; Mooney, Robert J.64; Muotka, Timo71; Nimptsch, Jorge72; Paavola, Riku73; Pardo, Isabel43; Parnikoza, Ivan Y.74,75; Patrick, Christopher J.76; Peeters, Edwin T. H. M.77; Pozo, Jesus4; Reid, Brian78; Richardson, John S.79; Rincon, Jose80; Risnoveanu, Geta81; Robinson, Christopher T.25; Santamans, Anna C.27; Simiyu, Gelas M.82; Skuja, Agnija83; Smykla, Jerzy38; Sponseller, Ryan A.84; Teixeira-de Mello, Franco85; Vilbaste, Sirje86; Villanueva, Veronica D.19; Webster, Jackson R.87; Woelfl, Stefan72; Xenopoulos, Marguerite A.10; Yates, Adam G.88,89; Yule, Catherine M.90; Zhang, Yixin91,92; Zwart, Jacob A.93
Organizations: 1Kent State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Kent, OH 44242 USA.
2Kent State Univ, Environm Sci & Design Res Inst, Kent, OH 44242 USA.
3Oakland Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Rochester, MI 48309 USA.
4Univ Basque Country, Dept Plant Biol & Ecol, Bilbao, Spain.
5Ikerbasque, Bilbao, Spain.
6Univ Coimbra, Ctr Funct Ecol, Dept Life Sci, Coimbra, Portugal.
7Univ Georgia, Odum Sch Ecol, Athens, GA 30602 USA.
8Univ Georgia, Savannah River Ecol Lab, Athens, GA 30602 USA.
9Univ Lorraine, LIEC CNRS, Metz, France.
10Trent Univ, Dept Biol, Peterborough, ON, Canada.
11Leibniz Inst Freshwater Ecol & Inland Fisheries I, Dept Expt Limnol, Stechlin, Germany.
12Berlin Inst Technol TU Berlin, Dept Ecol, Berlin, Germany.
13Oak Ridge Natl Lab, Climate Change Sci Inst, Oak Ridge, TN USA.
14Oak Ridge Natl Lab, Div Environm Sci, POB 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 USA.
15Univ Cent Arkansas, Dept Biol, Conway, AR USA.
16Univ Southern Mississippi, Sch Biol Environm & Earth Sci, Hattiesburg, MS 39406 USA.
17Michigan Technol Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Houghton, MI 49931 USA.
18Indiana Univ, ONeill Sch Publ & Environm Affairs, Bloomington, IN USA.
19Univ Nacl Comahue CONICET, INIBIOMA, San Carlos De Bariloche, Rio Negro, Argentina.
20Cent Washington Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Ellensburg, WA USA.
21Finnish Environm Inst SYKE, Freshwater Ctr, Helsinki, Finland.
22Idaho State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Stream Ecol Ctr, Pocatello, ID 83209 USA.
23City Austin, Watershed Protect Dept, Austin, TX USA.
24Univ Appl Sci & Arts Southern Switzerland, Inst Microbiol, Canobbio, Switzerland.
25Eawag Swiss Fed Inst Aquat Sci & Technol, Dept Aquat Ecol, Dubendorf, Switzerland.
26Univ Fed Minas Gerais, Genet Ecol & Evolut Dept, Inst Biol Sci, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
27Univ Valencia, Cavanilles Inst Biodivers & Evolutionary Biol, Paterna, Spain.
28Univ Claude Bernard Lyon 1, ENTPE, Villeurbanne, France.
29Univ Appl Sci & Arts Southern Switzerland, Inst Earth Sci, Manno, Switzerland.
30Zool Museum QCAZ I, Limnol Lab, Quito, Ecuador.
31Pontifical Catholic Univ Ecuador, Sch Biol Sci, Quito, Ecuador.
32Montana State Univ, Dept Ecol, Bozeman, MT 59717 USA.
33Univ Quebec Montreal, Dept Biol Sci, Montreal, PQ, Canada.
34Univ Western Australia, Sch Biol Sci, Perth, WA, Australia.
35Marine Inst, Galway, Ireland.
36Univ Coimbra, Marine & Environm Sci Ctr MARE, Dept Life Sci, Coimbra, Portugal.
37Univ Valencia, Dept Microbiol & Ecol, Valencia, Spain.
38Polish Acad Sci, Inst Nat Conservat, Krakow, Poland.
39Univ Utah, Dept Geog, Salt Lake City, UT USA.
40UiT Arctic Univ Norway, Dept Arctic & Marine Biol, Tromso, Norway.
41Univ Tromso, Norwegian Inst Nat Res NINA, Tromso, Norway.
42Charles Darwin Univ, Res Inst Environm & Livelihoods, Casuarina, NT, Australia.
43Univ Vigo, Dept Ecol & Anim Biol, Vigo, Spain.
44Univ San Carlos, Escuela Biol, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
45Univ Montana, Ecol & Evolut Program, Missoula, MT 59812 USA.
46Univ Canberra, Ctr Appl Water Sci, Inst Appl Ecol, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
47CSIRO Land & Water, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
48Univ Mayor San Andres, Inst Ecol, La Paz, Bolivia.
49Potsdam Univ, Inst Biochem & Biol, Potsdam, Germany.
50Univ Fed Mato Grosso do Sul, Campus Tres Lagoas, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil.
51Int Inst Sustainable Dev, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
52Kyushu Univ, Shiiba Res Forest, Kyushu, Japan.
53Univ Tecn Particular Loja, Dept Ciencias Biol, Loja, Ecuador.
54Univ Yamanashi, Dept Environm Sci, Kofu, Yamanashi, Japan.
55Ontario Tech Univ, Fac Sci, Oshawa, ON, Canada.
56Univ Nevada, Global Water Ctr, Reno, NV 89557 USA.
57Radboud Univ Nijmegen, Dept Aquat Ecol & Environm Biol, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
58Radboud Univ Nijmegen, Inst Water & Wetland Res, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
59Swedish Univ Agr Sci, Forest Ecol & Management, Umea, Sweden.
60Univ Regina, Dept Biol, Regina, SK, Canada.
61Univ Fed Santa Catarina, Dept Ecol & Zool, Florianopolis, SC, Brazil.
62Mem Univ Newfoundland, Dept Biol, St John, NL, Canada.
63Evergreen State Coll, Environm Studies Program, Olympia, WA 98505 USA.
64Univ Wisconsin, Ctr Limnol, Madison, WI 53706 USA.
65Univ Eldoret, Dept Fisheries & Aquat Sci, Eldoret, Kenya.
66Cornell Univ, Dept Nat Resources & Environm, Ithaca, NY USA.
67Swedish Univ Agr Sci, Dept Aquat Sci & Assessment, Uppsala, Sweden.
68Fed Univ Bahia UFBA, Inst Biol, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
69Univ Zagreb, Fac Sci, Dept Biol, Zagreb, Croatia.
70Ehime Univ, Grad Sch Sci & Engn, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan.
71Univ Oulu, Dept Ecol & Genet, Oulu, Finland.
72Univ Austral Chile, Inst Ciencias Marinas & Limnol, Valdivia, Chile.
73Univ Oulu, Oulanka Res Stn, Oulu, Finland.
74Natl Antarctic Sci Ctr Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine.
75Natl Inst Sci Ukraine, Inst Mol Biol & Genet, Kiev, Ukraine.
76Virginia Inst Marine Sci, Coll William & Mary, Dept Biol Sci, Gloucester Point, VA 23062 USA.
77Wageningen Univ, Aquat Ecol & Water Qual Management Grp, Wageningen, Netherlands.
78Ctr Invest Ecosistemas Patagonia, Res Ctr Ecosyst Patagonia, Valdivia, Chile.
79Univ British Columbia, Dept Forest & Conservat Sci, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
80Univ Zulia, Dept Biol, Maracaibo, Venezuela.
81Univ Bucharest, Dept Syst Ecol & Sustainabil, Bucharest, Romania.
82Univ Eldoret, Sch Environm Studies, Eldoret, Kenya.
83Univ Latvia, Inst Biol, Riga, Latvia.
84Umea Univ, Dept Ecol & Environm Sci, Umea, Sweden.
85Univ Republ CURE, Dept Ecol & Gest Ambiental, Maldonado, Uruguay.
86Estonian Univ Life Sci, Inst Agr & Environm Sci, Tartu, Estonia.
87Virginia Tech, Dept Biol Sci, Blacksburg, VA USA.
88Univ Waterloo, Dept Biol, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
89Canadian Rivers Inst, St John, NB, Canada.
90Univ Sunshine Coast, Sch Sci Technol & Engn, Maroochydore, Qld, Australia.
91Soochow Univ, Dept Landscape Architecture, Suzhou, Peoples R China.
92Univ Hong Kong, Zhejiang Inst Res & Innovat, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Peoples R China.
93US Geol Survey, Integrated Informat Disseminat Div, 959 Natl Ctr, Reston, VA 22092 USA.
Format: article
Version: published version
Access: open
Online Access: PDF Full Text (PDF, 2.2 MB)
Persistent link: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi-fe2022092660198
Language: English
Published: American Geophysical Union, 2022
Publish Date: 2022-09-26
Description:

Abstract

Microbes play a critical role in plant litter decomposition and influence the fate of carbon in rivers and riparian zones. When decomposing low-nutrient plant litter, microbes acquire nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from the environment (i.e., nutrient immobilization), and this process is potentially sensitive to nutrient loading and changing climate. Nonetheless, environmental controls on immobilization are poorly understood because rates are also influenced by plant litter chemistry, which is coupled to the same environmental factors. Here we used a standardized, low-nutrient organic matter substrate (cotton strips) to quantify nutrient immobilization at 100 paired stream and riparian sites representing 11 biomes worldwide. Immobilization rates varied by three orders of magnitude, were greater in rivers than riparian zones, and were strongly correlated to decomposition rates. In rivers, P immobilization rates were controlled by surface water phosphate concentrations, but N immobilization rates were not related to inorganic N. The N:P of immobilized nutrients was tightly constrained to a molar ratio of 10:1 despite wide variation in surface water N:P. Immobilization rates were temperature-dependent in riparian zones but not related to temperature in rivers. However, in rivers nutrient supply ultimately controlled whether microbes could achieve the maximum expected decomposition rate at a given temperature. Collectively, we demonstrated that exogenous nutrient supply and immobilization are critical control points for decomposition of organic matter.

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Series: Global biogeochemical cycles
ISSN: 0886-6236
ISSN-E: 1944-9224
ISSN-L: 0886-6236
Volume: 36
Issue: 3
Article number: e2021GB007163
DOI: 10.1029/2021GB007163
OADOI: https://oadoi.org/10.1029/2021GB007163
Type of Publication: A1 Journal article – refereed
Field of Science: 1172 Environmental sciences
Subjects:
Funding: We thank a large number of assistants who helped field work, G. Moeen and M. Moeen for preparing cotton strips, and N. Johnson, A. Minerovic, and C. Blackwood for help with C:N analysis. This research was supported by awards to S.D.T. from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Science (Secretaria de Educacion Superior Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion, SENESCYT) through the PROMETEO scholar-exchange program, the Oakland University Research Development Grant program, and a Huron Mountain Wildlife Foundation research grant. N.A.G. was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. PRL was supported by NSERC and Canada Research Chair programs. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
Dataset Reference: All data and code for analyses and figures are available on GitHub which can be accessed from the persistent DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5764917
Copyright information: © 2022. American Geophysical Union.