Direct and indirect effects of increasing dissolved organic carbon levels on pH in lakes recovering from acidification

Abstract

In this study, we examine the impact of increasing concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on the recovery from acidification for 66 lakes in Southern Sweden. The lakes are small, weakly buffered, and have all been affected by acidifying deposition. A majority of the lakes (∼75%) showed an increase in DOC concentrations between 1990 and 2008. The method used in this study was to model pH in 2008 from DOC, acid neutralizing capacity, pCO2 (partial carbon dioxide pressure), and Al speciation, using both the DOC observed in 2008 and the “unelevated” DOC of 1990. Furthermore, we consider the indirect effects of increasing DOC on acidity, i.e., the ancillary effects from DOC on pCO2, Al transport and speciation, and release of base cations (BCs). Our results indicate that the DOC increase in the latest decades has retarded the recovery from acidification by 0.13 pH units (median for all lakes) and by more than 1 unit for individual lakes. The effects of elevated pCO2 and BC concentrations accompanying the DOC increase compensated for each other for the average lake, whereas the effects of higher Al transport on pH were minor. The estimate of the amount of BCs released with the organic anions is however uncertain, and further studies on this topic are needed.