Open AccessEmergent productivity regimes of river networks
Author(s) -
Koenig Lauren E.,
Helton Ashley M.,
Savoy Philip,
Bertuzzo Enrico,
Heffernan James B.,
Hall Robert O.,
Bernhardt Emily S.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2378-2242
DOI - 10.1002/lol2.10115
Subject(s) - productivity , environmental science , primary production , watershed , streams , ecosystem , range (aeronautics) , scale (ratio) , temporal scales , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , geography , computer science , geology , cartography , computer network , materials science , macroeconomics , geotechnical engineering , machine learning , economics , biology , composite material
High‐resolution data are improving our ability to resolve temporal patterns and controls on river productivity, but we still know little about the emergent patterns of primary production at river‐network scales. Here, we estimate daily and annual river‐network gross primary production (GPP) by applying characteristic temporal patterns of GPP (i.e., regimes) representing distinct river functional types to simulated river networks. A defined envelope of possible productivity regimes emerges at the network‐scale, but the amount and timing of network GPP can vary widely within this range depending on watershed size, productivity in larger rivers, and reach‐scale variation in light within headwater streams. Larger rivers become more influential on network‐scale GPP as watershed size increases, but small streams with relatively low productivity disproportionately influence network GPP due to their large collective surface area. Our initial predictions of network‐scale productivity provide mechanistic understanding of the factors that shape aquatic ecosystem function at broad scales.