Abstract
Due to high terrestrial runoff, the Baltic Sea is rich in dissolved organic carbon (DOC), the light-absorbing fraction of which is referred to as colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM). Inputs of DOC and CDOM are predicted to increase with climate change, affecting coastal ecosystems. We found that the relationships between DOC, CDOM, salinity, and Secchi depth all differed between the two coastal areas studied; the W Gulf of Bothnia with high terrestrial input and the NW Baltic Proper with relatively little terrestrial input. The CDOM:DOC ratio was higher in the Gulf of Bothnia, where CDOM had a greater influence on the Secchi depth, which is used as an indicator of eutrophication and hence important for Baltic Sea management. Based on the results of this study, we recommend regular CDOM measurements in monitoring programmes, to increase the value of concurrent Secchi depth measurements.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0658-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Water quality in coastal areas is a result of processes in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems
This paper studies the relationships between colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), salinity, and Secchi depth in coastal gradients in the Gulf of Bothnia (GB) and the Baltic Proper (BP)
Our empirical relationships show that there is a general decoupling between CDOM and DOC in the Baltic Sea, but that robust regional or local relationships can be found
Summary
Water quality in coastal areas is a result of processes in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Carbon is vital for living organisms and is an important parameter to monitor. One of the main pools of carbon in coastal ecosystems is dissolved organic matter (DOM), which has both autochthonous and allochthonous sources. Allochthonous DOM consists mainly of degraded material of Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0658-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Terrestrial origin, whereas autochthonous DOM is the result of biological activity in situ (Blough and Del Vecchio 2002; Gustafsson et al 2014). Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) refers to the carbon in DOM. The light-absorbing colored or chromophoric fraction of DOM is commonly referred to as colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM)
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