Abstract
Abstract. Tropical floodplains play an important role in organic matter transport, storage, and transformation between headwaters and oceans. However, the fluxes and quality of organic carbon (OC) and organic nitrogen (ON) in tropical river-floodplain systems are not well constrained. We explored the quantity and characteristics of dissolved and particulate organic matter (DOM and POM, respectively) in the Kafue River flowing through the Kafue Flats (Zambia), a tropical river-floodplain system in the Zambezi River basin. During the flooding season, > 80% of the Kafue River water passed through the floodplain, mobilizing large quantities of OC and ON, which resulted in a net export of 69–119 kg OC km−2 d−1 and 3.8–4.7 kg ON km−2 d−1, 80% of which was in the dissolved form. The elemental C : N ratio of ~ 20, the comparatively high δ13C values of −25‰ to −21‰, and its spectroscopic properties (excitation-emission matrices) showed that DOM in the river was mainly of terrestrial origin. Despite a threefold increase in OC loads due to inputs from the floodplain, the characteristics of the riverine DOM remained relatively constant along the sampled 410-km river reach. This suggests that floodplain DOM displayed properties similar to those of DOM leaving the upstream reservoir and implied that the DOM produced in the reservoir was relatively short-lived. In contrast, the particulate fraction was 13C-depleted (−29‰) and had a C : N ratio of ~ 8, which indicated that POM originated from phytoplankton production in the reservoir and in the floodplain, rather than from plant debris or resuspended sediments. While the upstream dam had little effect on the DOM pool, terrestrial particles were retained, and POM from algal and microbial sources was released to the river. A nitrogen mass balance over the 2200 km2 flooded area revealed an annual deficit of 15 500–22 100 t N in the Kafue Flats. The N isotope budget suggests that these N losses are balanced by intense N-fixation. Our study shows that the Kafue Flats are a significant local source of OC and ON to downstream ecosystems and illustrates how the composition of riverine OM can be altered by dams and floodplains in tropical catchments.
Highlights
Floodplains can act as major sources or sinks for riverine carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), regulating the organic matter (OM) transport from headwaters to downstream systems such as lakes and oceans
During the flooding season, > 80 % of the Kafue River water passed through the floodplain, mobilizing large quantities of organic carbon (OC) and organic nitrogen (ON), which resulted in a net export of 69– 119 kg OC km−2 d−1 and 3.8–4.7 kg ON km−2 d−1, 80 % of which was in the dissolved form
In May 2010, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) tended to be higher in the inundated floodplain than at the adjacent river stations, reaching up to 600 μM, while the dissolved organic N (DON) concentrations were comparable to those measured in the river (Fig. 3a)
Summary
Floodplains can act as major sources or sinks for riverine carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), regulating the organic matter (OM) transport from headwaters to downstream systems such as lakes and oceans. Despite the importance of wetlands in the global C cycle, the role of floodplains for riverine C storage, transformation and export has not been well constrained (Battin et al, 2009). This is true for the large wetlands in the tropics, which are among the most productive and valuable ecosystems worldwide. Previous studies have investigated the biogeochemistry of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in different tropical riverfloodplain systems The organic N fraction, in particular the analysis of dissolved organic N (DON), has seldom been used as a means of dissolved OM (DOM) characterization in tropical systems, despite the fact that DON accounts for 50–90 % of total dissolved N (TDN), and generally high DON export from tropical catchments (Berman and Bronk, 2003; Wiegner et al, 2009)
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