University of Notre Dame
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Chemical and Microbial Drivers of Pond Ecosystem Function in the Copper River Delta, Alaska

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posted on 2018-04-12, 00:00 authored by Carmella Vizza

My dissertation assessed the chemical and microbial drivers of ecosystem function in high-latitude wetland ponds and how they might be influenced by climate change. Using a landscape ecology approach, I investigated how landscape position influenced physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of multiple ponds along a 20-km trajectory from glacial headwaters to ocean in southcentral Alaska, USA. Ponds more strongly influenced by glaciers tended to be more heterotrophic, exhibiting higher rates of decomposition and ecosystem respiration. In contrast, ponds near the ocean tended to be more autotrophic, exhibiting greater gross primary production and net ecosystem production. Despite this heterogeneity, nutrient diffusing substrate experiments demonstrated that pond biofilms responded similarly to nutrients. Nitrate amendments reduced biofilm biomass by about 60% with corresponding changes in microbial communities. The community patterns suggested that nitrate can strongly affect microbial interactions during biofilm formation by altering redox conditions. Because redox conditions structure functional processes in these systems and ponds play a disproportionately large role in the methane (CH4) budget of global inland waters, I also examined physicochemical and biological factors that influence the CH4 cycle. Ebullition, or bubbling, often dominated total CH4 emissions from these ponds and appeared to integrate alternate sources of CH4 other than current production. The predictability of processes in the CH4 cycle diminished from CH4 production to diffusive emissions to total emissions. Although specific processes in the CH4 cycle were challenging to predict, I demonstrated that carbon stable isotopes of detritus are a potential tool for tracing CH4 production. Tracing this process is important because global change is likely to affect the CH4 cycle. My experiments suggested that CH4 production in coastal wetlands will be sensitive to increased organic matter availability and potentially seawater intrusion. Overall, my dissertation shows that environmental heterogeneity contributes to differences in microbial processing and ecosystem function. Global environmental change is likely to disproportionately affect coastal wetlands at northern latitudes because they are subject to increased glacial melt, sea-level rise, higher temperatures, and longer growing seasons, all of which have the potential to influence the physicochemical properties that shape microbial communities that are largely responsible for ecosystem function.

History

Date Created

2018-04-12

Date Modified

2018-11-08

Defense Date

2018-03-23

Research Director(s)

Gary Lamberti

Committee Members

Dominic Chaloner Adrian Rocha Jennifer Tank

Degree

  • Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Level

  • Doctoral Dissertation

Rights Statement

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

Program Name

  • Biological Sciences

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