Lake ecosystems process and cycle organic substrates, thus serving as important bioreactors in the global carbon cycle. Climate change is predicted to increase extreme weather and precipitation events that can flush nutrients and organic matter from soils to streams and lakes. Here we report changes in stable isotopes (δ2H, δ13C, δ15N, or δ18O) of water, dissolved organic matter (DOM), seston, and zooplankton in a subalpine lake at short time resolution following an extreme precipitation event between early July to mid-August 2021. Water from excess precipitation and runoff remained in the lake epilimnion and coincided with increasing δ13C values of seston (-30 ‰ to -20 ‰), due to the input of carbonates and terrestrial organic matter. Particles settled into deeper lake layers after two days and contributed to the uncoupling of C and N cycling as the lake responded to this extreme precipitation event. Following the event, there was an increase in bulk δ13C values of zooplankton (from -35 ‰ to -32 ‰). Throughout this study, δ13C values of DOM remained stable throughout the water column (-29 ‰ to -28 ‰), while large isotopic fluctuations in DOM δ2H (-140 ‰ to -115 ‰) and δ18O (+9 ‰ to +15 ‰) values suggested DOM relocation and turnover. Integrating isotope hydrology, ecosystem ecology, and organic geochemistry offers an element-specific, detailed approach to investigating the impact of extreme precipitation events on freshwater ecosystems and particularly aquatic food webs.

University of Southern Bohemia Na Sádkách 7 370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic; Biology Center CAS Na Sádkách 7 370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic

WasserCluster Lunz Biologische Station Inter University Center for Aquatic Ecosystem Research Dr Carl Kupelwieser Promenade 5 3293 Lunz See Austria

WasserCluster Lunz Biologische Station Inter University Center for Aquatic Ecosystem Research Dr Carl Kupelwieser Promenade 5 3293 Lunz See Austria; Donau Universität Krems Dr Karl Dorrek Straße 30 3500 Krems Austria

Citace poskytuje Crossref.org

Compound-specific stable isotope analyses of fatty acids indicate feeding zones of zooplankton across the water column of a subalpine lake