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Watershed and Lake Attributes Dictate Landscape Patterns of Resource Flows in Mountain Lakes
Author(s) -
Smits Adrianne P.,
Currinder Bryan,
Framsted Nicholas,
Loken Luke C.,
Lucero Delores,
Neal Kelly A.,
Parisek Christine A.,
Sickman Jim,
Sadro Steven
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2020wr027673
Subject(s) - watershed , environmental science , zooplankton , resource (disambiguation) , phytoplankton , pelagic zone , food web , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , dissolved organic carbon , ecosystem , oceanography , geology , nutrient , biology , computer network , geotechnical engineering , machine learning , computer science
The extent to which terrestrial organic matter supports aquatic consumers remains uncertain because factors regulating resource flows are poorly understood. We sampled 12 lakes throughout the Sierra Nevada (California, USA) spanning large gradients in elevation and size to evaluate how watershed attributes and lake morphometry influence resource flows to lake carbon pools and zooplankton. We found that the size and composition of carbon pools in lakes were often more strongly determined by watershed or lake features rather than by elevational position. Using three different tracers of resource origin (δ 13 C, Δ 14 C, C:N ratio), we found terrestrial contributions to most lake resource pools (dissolved organic carbon, particulate organic matter (POM), sediments) and pelagic consumers (zooplankton) were more strongly related to local‐scale watershed features such as vegetation cover or watershed area: lake area rather than to elevation. Landscape patterns in multiple tracers indicated consistent contribution of within‐lake C sources to bulk resource pools across elevations (POM, sediments, zooplankton). δ 13 C‐enrichment of lake C pools and overlap with δ 13 C of terrestrial resources can arise due to reduced fractionation of 13 C by phytoplankton under CO 2 limitation, therefore we recommend careful consideration of potential environmental drivers when interpreting among‐lake patterns in δ 13 C. Our findings emphasize the importance of local‐scale variation in mediating terrestrial contributions to lake food webs.