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Leonard LT, Vanzin GF, Garayburu-Caruso VA, Lau SS, Beutler CA, Newman AW, Mitch WA, Stegen JC, Williams KH, Sharp JO. Disinfection byproducts formed during drinking water treatment reveal an export control point for dissolved organic matter in a subalpine headwater stream. WATER RESEARCH X 2022; 15:100144. [PMID: 35542761 PMCID: PMC9079345 DOI: 10.1016/j.wroa.2022.100144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Changes in climate, season, and vegetation can alter organic export from watersheds. While an accepted tradeoff to protect public health, disinfection processes during drinking water treatment can adversely react with organic compounds to form disinfection byproducts (DBPs). By extension, DBP monitoring can yield insights into hydrobiogeochemical dynamics within watersheds and their implications for water resource management. In this study, we analyzed temporal trends from a water treatment facility that sources water from Coal Creek in Crested Butte, Colorado. These trends revealed a long-term increase in haloacetic acid and trihalomethane formation over the period of 2005-2020. Disproportionate export of dissolved organic carbon and formation of DBPs that exceeded maximum contaminant levels were consistently recorded in association with late spring freshet. Synoptic sampling of the creek in 2020 and 2021 identified a biogeochemical hotspot for organic carbon export in the upper domain of the watershed that contained a prominent fulvic acid-like fluorescent signature. DBP formation potential analyses from this domain yielded similar ratios of regulated DBP classes to those formed at the drinking water facility. Spectrometric qualitative analyses of pre and post-reacted waters with hypochlorite indicated lignin-like and condensed hydrocarbon-like molecules were the major reactive chemical classes during chlorine-based disinfection. This study demonstrates how drinking water quality archives combined with synoptic sampling and targeted analyses can be used to identify and understand export control points for dissolved organic matter. This approach could be applied to identify and characterize analogous watersheds where seasonal or climate-associated organic matter export challenge water treatment disinfection and by extension inform watershed management and drinking water treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura T. Leonard
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, United States
| | - Gary F. Vanzin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, United States
| | | | | | - Curtis A. Beutler
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, CO 81224, United States
| | | | | | - James C. Stegen
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, United States
| | - Kenneth H. Williams
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, CO 81224, United States
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
| | - Jonathan O. Sharp
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, United States
- Hydrologic Science and Engineering Program, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, United States
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The Large-Scale Effect of Forest Cover on Long-Term Streamflow Variations in Mediterranean Catchments of Central Chile. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14084443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Forest ecosystems play an important role in hydrological processes as surface and subsurface runoff, as well as the storage of water at the catchment scale. Therefore, it is important to have a greater understanding of the effects of forests in the long-term water balance of Mediterranean catchments. In this sense, this study evaluates the effect of native forests, forest plantations, and the combination of both, on long-term streamflow variations in central Chile, an unusual area of Mediterranean climate characterized by a well-marked annual cycle with dry summers and wet winters. Thus, the temporal pattern of monthly streamflow was evaluated for mean flow (Qmean), maximum flow (Qmax), and minimum flow (Qmin) in 42 large-scale (>200 km2) Mediterranean catchments. Each series of monthly streamflow data was QA/QC, and then evaluated using the Mann–Kendall’s non-parametric statistical test to detect temporal variations between 1994 and 2015. In addition to the previous analysis, the monthly series were grouped into wet seasons (April–September) and dry seasons (October–April), to determine if there were any significant differences within the annual hydrological cycle. The areas covered with native and forest plantations and their relative changes were evaluated for each catchment through streamflow variations and forest cover indicators. Results revealed that streamflow variations are positive and significant when more forest cover exists. The intra-catchment relationships assessed for both species revealed the significant role of native forests and mixed masses as key ecosystems for the long-term conservation of summer streamflow in Mediterranean catchments of central Chile. These findings encourage an urgent need to create highland afforestation programs on degraded areas of central Chile, to maximize water storage in a region that is quickly drying out due to unsustainable water and land use management practices and the effects of global warming.
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Kaal J, Pérez-Rodríguez M, Biester H. Molecular Probing of DOM Indicates a Key Role of Spruce-Derived Lignin in the DOM and Metal Cycles of a Headwater Catchment: Can Spruce Forest Dieback Exacerbate Future Trends in the Browning of Central European Surface Waters? ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:2747-2759. [PMID: 35104105 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c04719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Peatlands of the Northern Hemisphere and Central European coniferous forests experience significant environmental change. The resultant browning of surface waters, that is, elevated concentrations of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and metals, is of interest in the context of the global C cycle, peatland and forest management, and water treatment. In an attempt to identify the causes of this process in the Harz Mountains (Central Germany), we studied the spatiotemporal variations in DOM molecular composition (thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation combined with GC-MS) and metal concentrations in headwater stream samples. We found strong relationships between DOM and metals and seasonal variations in the DOM quality and tentatively DOM-metal binding mode: during summer base flow, DOM and metal concentrations are low, and all elements other than the alkali and alkaline earth metals (Ca, Mg, Sr, K, and Na) are positively correlated to DOM, whereas during spring and autumn (high discharge), only metals with strong affinity for DOM (Fe, As, Cu, Cr, Pb, and Ti), but not weakly binding ones (Al, Cd, La, Mn, Ni, Zn, and Zr), are correlated to DOM, indicative of selectivity in DOM-metal interactions. The products of polyphenols are the key ingredients of the DOM-metal complexes. We argue the importance of spruce lignin-derived vanillic acid moieties, which are involved in weak (all seasons) and strong, multidentate and/or colloidal, binding (spring and autumn) of metals. Considering the ongoing spruce forest dieback and climate change acceleration, it is tempting to conclude that spruce necromass and forest soils may release vast amounts of lignin-derived DOM and associated metals to headwater streams. This would have significant implications for forest soil C stocks and the management of connected drinking water reservoirs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joeri Kaal
- Institut für Geoökologie, Abteilung Umweltgeochemie, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Langer Kamp 19C, Braunschweig 38106, Germany
| | - Marta Pérez-Rodríguez
- Institut für Geoökologie, Abteilung Umweltgeochemie, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Langer Kamp 19C, Braunschweig 38106, Germany
| | - Harald Biester
- Institut für Geoökologie, Abteilung Umweltgeochemie, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Langer Kamp 19C, Braunschweig 38106, Germany
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Fayram AH, Monahan WB, Krist FJ, Sapio FJ. The relationship between tree mortality from a pine beetle epidemic and increased dissolved copper levels in the upper Big Thompson River, Colorado. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2019; 191:188. [PMID: 30806812 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-019-7326-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2018] [Accepted: 02/15/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Bark beetle outbreaks in the Rocky Mountains caused substantial tree mortality starting in the late 1990s, and continued into the 2000s, with the most severe mortality occurring from 2002 to 2012. Over the same time period, concentrations of dissolved copper in the Big Thompson River (BTR), Colorado, USA, increased significantly and are high enough to negatively affect aquatic life. We examined correlations between dissolved copper and tree mortality in the BTR. Two sites, one consisting of water from the western side of the continental divide and one consisting of water from the eastern side, demonstrated a positive relationship between percentage tree mortality and dissolved copper. The relationships were similar except that the best relationship occurred with a 3-year lag between tree mortality and subsequent dissolved copper levels at the eastern site and with a 5-year lag at the western site. The differential time lag is potentially the result of different levels of carbon in the soil in the watersheds associated with each site because carbon can affect copper mobility. Our results suggest that bark beetle-induced tree mortality may contribute significantly to dissolved copper levels in the BTR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew H Fayram
- Big Thompson Watershed Forum, 800 South Taft Avenue, Loveland, CO, 80537, USA.
| | - William B Monahan
- USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Assessment and Applied Sciences Team, 2150 Centre Ave., Bldg. A., Suite 331, Fort Collins, CO, 80526-1891, USA
| | - Frank J Krist
- USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Assessment and Applied Sciences Team, 2150 Centre Ave., Bldg. A., Suite 331, Fort Collins, CO, 80526-1891, USA
| | - Frank J Sapio
- USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Assessment and Applied Sciences Team, 2150 Centre Ave., Bldg. A., Suite 331, Fort Collins, CO, 80526-1891, USA
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Kopáček J, Evans CD, Hejzlar J, Kaňa J, Porcal P, Šantrůčková H. Factors Affecting the Leaching of Dissolved Organic Carbon after Tree Dieback in an Unmanaged European Mountain Forest. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2018; 52:6291-6299. [PMID: 29738664 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b00478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Forest disturbances affect ecosystem biogeochemistry, water quality, and carbon cycling. We analyzed water chemistry before, during, and after a dieback event at a headwater catchment in the Bohemian Forest (central Europe) together with an un-impacted reference catchment, focusing on drivers and responses of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) leaching. We analyzed data regarding carbon input to the forest floor via litter and throughfall, changes in soil moisture and composition, streamwater chemistry, discharge, and temperature. We observed three key points. (i) In the first 3 years following dieback, DOC production from dead biomass led to increased concentrations in soil, but DOC leaching did not increase due to chemical suppression of its solubility by elevated concentrations of protons and polyvalent cations and elevated microbial demand for DOC associated with high ammonium (NH4+) concentrations. (ii) DOC leaching remained low during the next 2 years because its availability in soils declined, which also left more NH4+ available for nitrifiers, increasing NO3- and proton production that further increased the chemical suppression of DOC mobility. (iii) After 5 years, DOC leaching started to increase as concentrations of NO3-, protons, and polyvalent cations started to decrease in soil water. Our data suggest that disturbance-induced changes in N cycling strongly influence DOC leaching via both chemical and biological mechanisms and that the magnitude of DOC leaching may vary over periods following disturbance. Our study adds insights as to why the impacts of forest disturbances are sometime observed at the local soil scale but not simultaneously on the larger catchment scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiří Kopáček
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Hydrobiology , České Budějovice , CZ-37005 Czech Republic
- University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science , České Budějovice , CZ-37005 Czech Republic
| | - Christopher D Evans
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology , Deiniol Road , Bangor LL57 2UW , United Kingdom
| | - Josef Hejzlar
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Hydrobiology , České Budějovice , CZ-37005 Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Kaňa
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Hydrobiology , České Budějovice , CZ-37005 Czech Republic
- Biology Centre CAS, SoWa , České Budějovice , CZ-37005 Czech Republic
| | - Petr Porcal
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Hydrobiology , České Budějovice , CZ-37005 Czech Republic
- Biology Centre CAS, SoWa , České Budějovice , CZ-37005 Czech Republic
| | - Hana Šantrůčková
- University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science , České Budějovice , CZ-37005 Czech Republic
- Biology Centre CAS, SoWa , České Budějovice , CZ-37005 Czech Republic
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Ecosystem Resilience and Limitations Revealed by Soil Bacterial Community Dynamics in a Bark Beetle-Impacted Forest. mBio 2017; 8:mBio.01305-17. [PMID: 29208740 PMCID: PMC5717385 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01305-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Forested ecosystems throughout the world are experiencing increases in the incidence and magnitude of insect-induced tree mortality with large ecologic ramifications. Interestingly, correlations between water quality and the extent of tree mortality in Colorado montane ecosystems suggest compensatory effects from adjacent live vegetation that mute responses in less severely impacted forests. To this end, we investigated whether the composition of the soil bacterial community and associated functionality beneath beetle-killed lodgepole pine was influenced by the extent of surrounding tree mortality. The most pronounced changes were observed in the potentially active bacterial community, where alpha diversity increased in concert with surrounding tree mortality until mortality exceeded a tipping point of ~30 to 40%, after which diversity stabilized and decreased. Community structure also clustered in association with the extent of surrounding tree mortality with compositional trends best explained by differences in NH4+ concentrations and C/N ratios. C/N ratios, which were lower in soils under beetle-killed trees, further correlated with the relative abundance of putative nitrifiers and exoenzyme activity. Collectively, the response of soil microorganisms that drive heterotrophic respiration and decay supports observations of broader macroscale threshold effects on water quality in heavily infested forests and could be utilized as a predictive mechanism during analogous ecosystem disruptions. Forests around the world are succumbing to insect infestation with repercussions for local soil biogeochemistry and downstream water quality and quantity. This study utilized microbial community dynamics to address why we are observing watershed scale biogeochemical impacts from forest mortality in some impacted areas but not others. Through a unique “tree-centric” approach, we were able to delineate plots with various tree mortality levels within the same watershed to see if surviving surrounding vegetation altered microbial and biogeochemical responses. Our results suggest that forests with lower overall tree mortality levels are able to maintain “normal” ecosystem function, as the bacterial community appears resistant to tree death. However, surrounding tree mortality influences this mitigating effect with various linear and threshold responses whereupon the bacterial community and its function are altered. Our study lends insight into how microscale responses propagate upward into larger-scale observations, which may be useful for future predictions during analogous disruptions.
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Kopáček J, Fluksová H, Hejzlar J, Kaňa J, Porcal P, Turek J. Changes in surface water chemistry caused by natural forest dieback in an unmanaged mountain catchment. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 584-585:971-981. [PMID: 28153399 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.01.148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2016] [Revised: 01/19/2017] [Accepted: 01/21/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Ionic and nutrient compositions of throughfall, tributaries and lake outlet were analysed in the Plešné catchment-lake system (an unmanaged mountain forest in Central Europe) from 1997 to 2016. The aim was to evaluate changes in surface water chemistry after natural forest dieback. In the 2004-2008, 93% of the Norway spruce trees were killed by bark beetle outbreak, and all dead biomass remained in the catchment. Forest dieback changed the chemistry of all water fluxes, and the magnitude, timing, and duration of these changes differed for individual water constituents. The most pronounced decreases in throughfall concentrations occurred for K+, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), Ca2+ and Mg2+, i.e. elements mostly originating from canopy leaching, while concentrations of NH4+ and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) remained almost unaffected. In tributaries, the most rapid changes were increases in NO3-, K+, H+ and ionic aluminium (Ali) concentrations, while terrestrial export of DOC and P forms started more slowly. Immediately after the forest dieback, increase in NO3- concentrations was delayed by elevated DOC availability in soils. NO3- became the dominant anion, with maximum concentrations up to 346μeqL-1 within 5-7years after the bark beetle outbreak, and then started to decrease. Terrestrial exports of Ali, K+, H+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ accompanied NO3- leaching, but their trends differed due to their different sources. Elevated losses of SRP, DOC, and dissolved organic nitrogen continued until the end of the study. In the lake, microbial processes significantly decreased concentrations of NO3-, organic acid anions, H+ and Ali, and confounded the chemical trends observed in tributaries. Our results suggest that terrestrial losses of elements and the deterioration of waters after forest dieback are less pronounced in unmanaged than managed (clear-cut) catchments.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Kopáček
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
| | - H Fluksová
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - J Hejzlar
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - J Kaňa
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - P Porcal
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - J Turek
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
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