Decreasing organic carbon bioreactivity in European rivers

Abstract

Abstract European rivers experience increased loading of total organic carbon (TOC) from terrestrial sources due to factors involving changes in land use, climate and soil acidity. However, little is known about how increased TOC is linked to changes in the bioreactivity of organic matter in these rivers on a continental scale. We compiled paired measurements of TOC and biological oxygen demand in 5‐day 20°C dark incubations from 3,486 EU monitoring rivers. Assuming first‐order decay and a fixed respiratory quotient, annual average TOC and biological oxygen demand values were used to calculate 11,060 values of the decay coefficient k. The k decreased by two orders of magnitude as a power function of increasing TOC. This relationship could partly be explained by carbon quality, as the C:N ratio of the organic matter was the lowest in high‐reactivity low‐TOC rivers, and vice versa. A trend analysis showed that TOC increased by 18% from 1996 to 2012, while k decreased by as much as 50%. As a consequence, the biological oxygen demand in the water decreased over time in spite of the water browning trend (increased TOC). Together, these results suggest that reactivity is low near terrestrial hot spots for TOC export, and low during years with high terrestrial TOC loading, but increases in rivers with low TOC concentrations where internal processes in the water have high relative influence on bulk TOC quality. Thus, browning of European freshwaters is linked to strong decreases in TOC reactivity on a continental scale, suggesting that the impacts of browning on microbial water deoxygenation and greenhouse gas production are less severe than previously thought.