Ecosystem feedbacks constrain the effect of day-to-day weather variability on land-atmosphere carbon exchange.

Whole-ecosystem interactions and feedbacks constrain ecosystem responses to environmental change. The effects of these constraints on responses to climate trends and extreme weather events have been well studied. Here we examine how these constraints respond to changes in day-to-day weather variability without changing the long-term mean weather. Although environmental variability is recognized as a critical factor affecting ecological function, the effects of climate change on day-to-day weather variability and the resultant impacts on ecosystem function are still poorly understood. Changes in weather variability can alter the mean rates of individual ecological processes because many processes respond non-linearly to environmental drivers. We assessed how these individual-process responses to changes in day-to-day weather variability interact with one another at an ecosystem level. We examine responses of arctic tundra to changes in weather variability using stochastic simulations of daily temperature, precipitation, and light to drive a biogeochemical model. Changes in weather variability altered ecosystem carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus stocks and cycling rates in our model. However, responses of some processes (e.g., respiration) were inconsistent with expectations because ecosystem feedbacks can moderate, or even reverse, direct process responses to weather variability. More weather variability led to greater carbon losses from land to atmosphere; less variability led to higher carbon sequestration on land. The magnitude of modeled ecosystem response to weather variability was comparable to that predicted for the effects of climate mean trends by the end of the century.

Summer thaw duration is a strong predictor of the soil microbiome and its response to permafrost thaw in arctic tundra.

Climate warming has increased permafrost thaw in arctic tundra and extended the duration of annual thaw (number of thaw days in summer) along soil profiles. Predicting the microbial response to permafrost thaw depends largely on knowing how increased thaw duration affects the composition of the soil microbiome. Here, we determined soil microbiome composition from the annually thawed surface active layer down through permafrost from two tundra types at each of three sites on the North Slope of Alaska, USA. Variations in soil microbial taxa were found between sites up to ~90 km apart, between tundra types, and between soil depths. Microbiome differences at a site were greatest across transitions from thawed to permafrost depths. Results from correlation analysis based on multi-decadal thaw surveys show that differences in thaw duration by depth were significantly, positively correlated with the abundance of dominant taxa in the active layer and negatively correlated with dominant taxa in the permafrost. Microbiome composition within the transition zone was statistically similar to that in the permafrost, indicating that recent decades of intermittent thaw have not yet induced a shift from permafrost to active-layer microbes. We suggest that thaw duration rather than thaw frequency has a greater impact on the composition of microbial taxa within arctic soils.

Heterotrophic Bacteria Dominate Catalase Expression during Microcystis Blooms.

In the oligotrophic oceans, key autotrophs depend on "helper" bacteria to reduce oxidative stress from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the extracellular environment. H2O2 is also a ubiquitous stressor in freshwaters, but the effects of H2O2 on autotrophs and their interactions with bacteria are less well understood in freshwaters. Naturally occurring H2O2 in freshwater systems is proposed to impact the proportion of microcystin-producing (toxic) and non-microcystin-producing (nontoxic) Microcystis in blooms, which influences toxin concentrations and human health impacts. However, how different strains of Microcystis respond to naturally occurring H2O2 concentrations and the microbes responsible for H2O2 decomposition in freshwater cyanobacterial blooms are unknown. To address these knowledge gaps, we used metagenomics and metatranscriptomics to track the presence and expression of genes for H2O2 decomposition by microbes during a cyanobacterial bloom in western Lake Erie in the summer of 2014. katG encodes the key enzyme for decomposing extracellular H2O2 but was absent in most Microcystis cells. katG transcript relative abundance was dominated by heterotrophic bacteria. In axenic Microcystis cultures, an H2O2 scavenger (pyruvate) significantly improved growth rates of one toxic strain while other toxic and nontoxic strains were unaffected. These results indicate that heterotrophic bacteria play a key role in H2O2 decomposition in Microcystis blooms and suggest that their activity may affect the fitness of some Microcystis strains and thus the strain composition of Microcystis blooms but not along a toxic versus nontoxic dichotomy. IMPORTANCE Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CHABs) threaten freshwater ecosystems globally through the production of toxins. Toxin production by cyanobacterial species and strains during CHABs varies widely over time and space, but the ecological drivers of the succession of toxin-producing species remain unclear. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is ubiquitous in natural waters, inhibits microbial growth, and may determine the relative proportions of Microcystis strains during blooms. However, the mechanisms and organismal interactions involved in H2O2 decomposition are unexplored in CHABs. This study shows that some strains of bloom-forming freshwater cyanobacteria benefit from detoxification of H2O2 by associated heterotrophic bacteria, which may impact bloom development.

Nitrate is an important nitrogen source for Arctic tundra plants.

Plant nitrogen (N) use is a key component of the N cycle in terrestrial ecosystems. The supply of N to plants affects community species composition and ecosystem processes such as photosynthesis and carbon (C) accumulation. However, the availabilities and relative importance of different N forms to plants are not well understood. While nitrate (NO3-) is a major N form used by plants worldwide, it is discounted as a N source for Arctic tundra plants because of extremely low NO3- concentrations in Arctic tundra soils, undetectable soil nitrification, and plant-tissue NO3- that is typically below detection limits. Here we reexamine NO3- use by tundra plants using a sensitive denitrifier method to analyze plant-tissue NO3- Soil-derived NO3- was detected in tundra plant tissues, and tundra plants took up soil NO3- at comparable rates to plants from relatively NO3--rich ecosystems in other biomes. Nitrate assimilation determined by 15N enrichments of leaf NO3- relative to soil NO3- accounted for 4 to 52% (as estimated by a Bayesian isotope-mixing model) of species-specific total leaf N of Alaskan tundra plants. Our finding that in situ soil NO3- availability for tundra plants is high has important implications for Arctic ecosystems, not only in determining species compositions, but also in determining the loss of N from soils via leaching and denitrification. Plant N uptake and soil N losses can strongly influence C uptake and accumulation in tundra soils. Accordingly, this evidence of NO3- availability in tundra soils is crucial for predicting C storage in tundra.

Experimental metatranscriptomics reveals the costs and benefits of dissolved organic matter photo-alteration for freshwater microbes.

Microbes and sunlight convert terrigenous dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface waters to greenhouse gases. Prior studies show contrasting results about how biological and photochemical processes interact to contribute to the degradation of DOM. In this study, DOM leached from the organic layer of tundra soil was exposed to natural sunlight or kept in the dark, incubated in the dark with the natural microbial community, and analysed for gene expression and DOM chemical composition. Microbial gene expression (metatranscriptomics) in light and dark treatments diverged substantially after 4 h. Gene expression suggested that sunlight exposure of DOM initially stimulated microbial growth by (i) replacing the function of enzymes that degrade higher molecular weight DOM such as enzymes for aromatic carbon degradation, oxygenation, and decarboxylation, and (ii) releasing low molecular weight compounds and inorganic nutrients from DOM. However, growth stimulation following sunlight exposure of DOM came at a cost. Sunlight depleted the pool of aromatic compounds that supported microbial growth in the dark treatment, ultimately causing slower growth in the light treatment over 5 days. These first measurements of microbial metatranscriptomic responses to photo-alteration of DOM provide a mechanistic explanation for how sunlight exposure of terrigenous DOM alters microbial processing and respiration of DOM.

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms are a biological disturbance to Western Lake Erie bacterial communities.

Human activities are causing a global proliferation of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CHABs), yet we have limited understanding of how these events affect freshwater bacterial communities. Using weekly data from western Lake Erie in 2014, we investigated how the cyanobacterial community varied over space and time, and whether the bloom affected non-cyanobacterial (nc-bacterial) diversity and composition. Cyanobacterial community composition fluctuated dynamically during the bloom, but was dominated by Microcystis and Synechococcus OTUs. The bloom's progression revealed potential impacts to nc-bacterial diversity. Nc-bacterial evenness displayed linear, unimodal, or no response to algal pigment levels, depending on the taxonomic group. In addition, the bloom coincided with a large shift in nc-bacterial community composition. These shifts could be partitioned into components predicted by pH, chlorophyll a, temperature, and water mass movements. Actinobacteria OTUs showed particularly strong correlations to bloom dynamics. AcI-C OTUs became more abundant, while acI-A and acI-B OTUs declined during the bloom, providing evidence of niche partitioning at the sub-clade level. Thus, our observations in western Lake Erie support a link between CHABs and disturbances to bacterial community diversity and composition. Additionally, the short recovery of many taxa after the bloom indicates that bacterial communities may exhibit resilience to CHABs.

Effects of long-term nutrient additions on Arctic tundra, stream, and lake ecosystems: beyond NPP.

Primary producers form the base of food webs but also affect other ecosystem characteristics, such as habitat structure, light availability, and microclimate. Here, we examine changes caused by 5-30+ years of nutrient addition and resulting increases in net primary productivity (NPP) in tundra, streams, and lakes in northern Alaska. The Arctic provides an important opportunity to examine how ecosystems characterized by low diversity and low productivity respond to release from nutrient limitation. We review how responses of algae and plants affect light availability, perennial biotic structures available for consumers, oxygen levels, and temperature. Sometimes, responses were similar across all three ecosystems; e.g., increased NPP significantly reduced light to the substrate following fertilization. Perennial biotic structures increased in tundra and streams but not in lakes, and provided important new habitat niches for consumers as well as other producers. Oxygen and temperature responses also differed. Life history traits (e.g., longevity) of the primary producers along with the fate of detritus drove the responses and recovery. As global change persists and nutrients become more available in the Arctic and elsewhere, incorporating these factors as response variables will enable better prediction of ecosystem changes and feedbacks in this biome and others.

Surface exposure to sunlight stimulates CO2 release from permafrost soil carbon in the Arctic.

Recent climate change has increased arctic soil temperatures and thawed large areas of permafrost, allowing for microbial respiration of previously frozen C. Furthermore, soil destabilization from melting ice has caused an increase in thermokarst failures that expose buried C and release dissolved organic C (DOC) to surface waters. Once exposed, the fate of this C is unknown but will depend on its reactivity to sunlight and microbial attack, and the light available at the surface. In this study we manipulated water released from areas of thermokarst activity to show that newly exposed DOC is >40% more susceptible to microbial conversion to CO(2) when exposed to UV light than when kept dark. When integrated over the water column of receiving rivers, this susceptibility translates to the light-stimulated bacterial activity being on average from 11% to 40% of the total areal activity in turbid versus DOC-colored rivers, respectively. The range of DOC lability to microbes seems to depend on prior light exposure, implying that sunlight may act as an amplification factor in the conversion of frozen C stores to C gases in the atmosphere.

Community-specific impacts of exotic earthworm invasions on soil carbon dynamics in a sandy temperate forest.

Exotic earthworm introductions can alter above- and belowground properties of temperate forests, but the net impacts on forest soil carbon (C) dynamics are poorly understood. We used a mesocosm experiment to examine the impacts of earthworm species belonging to three different ecological groups (Lumbricus terrestris [anecic], Aporrectodea trapezoides [endogeic], and Eisenia fetida [epigeic]) on C distributions and storage in reconstructed soil profiles from a sandy temperate forest soil by measuring CO2 and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) losses, litter C incorporation into soil, and soil C storage with monospecific and species combinations as treatments. Soil CO2 loss was 30% greater from the Endogeic x Epigeic treatment than from controls (no earthworms) over the first 45 days; CO2 losses from monospecific treatments did not differ from controls. DOC losses were three orders of magnitude lower than CO2 losses, and were similar across earthworm community treatments. Communities with the anecic species accelerated litter C mass loss by 31-39% with differential mass loss of litter types (Acer rubrum > Populus grandidentata > Fagus grandifolia > Quercus rubra > or = Pinus strobus) indicative of leaf litter preference. Burrow system volume, continuity, and size distribution differed across earthworm treatments but did not affect cumulative CO2 or DOC losses. However, burrow system structure controlled vertical C redistribution by mediating the contributions of leaf litter to A-horizon C and N pools, as indicated by strong correlations between (1) subsurface vertical burrows made by anecic species, and accelerated leaf litter mass losses (with the exception of P. strobus); and (2) dense burrow networks in the A-horizon and the C and N properties of these pools. Final soil C storage was slightly lower in earthworm treatments, indicating that increased leaf litter C inputs into soil were more than offset by losses as CO2 and DOC across earthworm community treatments.

Dark formation of hydroxyl radical in Arctic soil and surface waters.

Hydroxyl radical (•OH) is a highly reactive and unselective oxidant in atmospheric and aquatic systems. Current understanding limits the role of DOM-produced •OH as an oxidant in carbon cycling mainly to sunlit environments where •OH is produced photochemically, but a recent laboratory study proposed a sunlight-independent pathway in which •OH forms during oxidation of reduced aquatic dissolved organic matter (DOM) and iron. Here we demonstrate this non-photochemical pathway for •OH formation in natural aquatic environments. Across a gradient from dry upland to wet lowland habitats, •OH formation rates increase with increasing concentrations of DOM and reduced iron, with highest •OH formation predicted at oxic-anoxic boundaries in soil and surface waters. Comparison of measured vs expected electron release from reduced moieties suggests that both DOM and iron contribute to •OH formation. At landscape scales, abiotic DOM oxidation by this dark •OH pathway may be as important to carbon cycling as bacterial oxidation of DOM in arctic surface waters.

Genomic evidence that microbial carbon degradation is dominated by iron redox metabolism in thawing permafrost.

Microorganisms drive many aspects of organic carbon cycling in thawing permafrost soils, but the compositional trajectory of the post-thaw microbiome and its metabolic activity remain uncertain, which limits our ability to predict permafrost-climate feedbacks in a warming world. Using quantitative metabarcoding and metagenomic sequencing, we determined relative and absolute changes in microbiome composition and functional gene abundance during thaw incubations of wet sedge tundra collected from northern Alaska, USA. Organic soils from the tundra active-layer (0-50 cm), transition-zone (50-70 cm), and permafrost (70+ cm) depths were incubated under reducing conditions at 4 °C for 30 days to mimic an extended thaw duration. Following extended thaw, we found that iron (Fe)-cycling Gammaproteobacteria, specifically the heterotrophic Fe(III)-reducing Rhodoferax sp. and chemoautotrophic Fe(II)-oxidizing Gallionella sp., increased by 3-5 orders of magnitude in absolute abundance within the transition-zone and permafrost microbiomes, accounting for 65% of community abundance. We also found that the abundance of genes for Fe(III) reduction (e.g., MtrE) and Fe(II) oxidation (e.g., Cyc1) increased concurrently with genes for benzoate degradation and pyruvate metabolism, in which pyruvate is used to generate acetate that can be oxidized, along with benzoate, to CO2 when coupled with Fe(III) reduction. Gene abundance for CH4 metabolism decreased following extended thaw, suggesting dissimilatory Fe(III) reduction suppresses acetoclastic methanogenesis under reducing conditions. Our genomic evidence indicates that microbial carbon degradation is dominated by iron redox metabolism via an increase in gene abundance associated with Fe(III) reduction and Fe(II) oxidation during initial permafrost thaw, likely increasing microbial respiration while suppressing methanogenesis in wet sedge tundra.

Temperature controls on aquatic bacterial production and community dynamics in arctic lakes and streams.

The impact of temperature on bacterial activity and community composition was investigated in arctic lakes and streams in northern Alaska. Aquatic bacterial communities incubated at different temperatures had different rates of production, as measured by (14)C-leucine uptake, indicating that populations within the communities had different temperature optima. Samples from Toolik Lake inlet and outlet were collected at water temperatures of 14.2 degrees C and 15.9 degrees C, respectively, and subsamples incubated at temperatures ranging from 6 degrees C to 20 degrees C. After 5 days, productivity rates varied from 0.5 to approximately 13.7 microg C l(-1) day(-1) and two distinct activity optima appeared at 12 degrees C and 20 degrees C. At these optima, activity was 2- to 11-fold higher than at other incubation temperatures. The presence of two temperature optima indicates psychrophilic and psychrotolerant bacteria dominate under different conditions. Community fingerprinting via denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA genes showed strong shifts in the composition of communities driven more by temperature than by differences in dissolved organic matter source; e.g. four and seven unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were found only at 2 degrees C and 25 degrees C, respectively, and not found at other incubation temperatures after 5 days. The impact of temperature on bacteria is complex, influencing both bacterial productivity and community composition. Path analysis of measurements of 24 streams and lakes sampled across a catchment 12 times in 4 years indicates variable timing and strength of correlation between temperature and bacterial production, possibly due to bacterial community differences between sites. As indicated by both field and laboratory experiments, shifts in dominant community members can occur on ecologically relevant time scales (days), and have important implications for understanding the relationship of bacterial diversity and function.

Processing arctic eddy-flux data using a simple carbon-exchange model embedded in the ensemble Kalman filter.

Continuous time-series estimates of net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) are routinely made using eddy covariance techniques. Identifying and compensating for errors in the NEE time series can be automated using a signal processing filter like the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF). The EnKF compares each measurement in the time series to a model prediction and updates the NEE estimate by weighting the measurement and model prediction relative to a specified measurement error estimate and an estimate of the model-prediction error that is continuously updated based on model predictions of earlier measurements in the time series. Because of the covariance among model variables, the EnKF can also update estimates of variables for which there is no direct measurement. The resulting estimates evolve through time, enabling the EnKF to be used to estimate dynamic variables like changes in leaf phenology. The evolving estimates can also serve as a means to test the embedded model and reconcile persistent deviations between observations and model predictions. We embedded a simple arctic NEE model into the EnKF and filtered data from an eddy covariance tower located in tussock tundra on the northern foothills of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska, USA. The model predicts NEE based only on leaf area, irradiance, and temperature and has been well corroborated for all the major vegetation types in the Low Arctic using chamber-based data. This is the first application of the model to eddy covariance data. We modified the EnKF by adding an adaptive noise estimator that provides a feedback between persistent model data deviations and the noise added to the ensemble of Monte Carlo simulations in the EnKF. We also ran the EnKF with both a specified leaf-area trajectory and with the EnKF sequentially recalibrating leaf-area estimates to compensate for persistent model-data deviations. When used together, adaptive noise estimation and sequential recalibration substantially improved filter performance, but it did not improve performance when used individually. The EnKF estimates of leaf area followed the expected springtime canopy phenology. However, there were also diel fluctuations in the leaf-area estimates; these are a clear indication of a model deficiency possibly related to vapor pressure effects on canopy conductance.

Interannual, summer, and diel variability of CH4 and CO2 effluxes from Toolik Lake, Alaska, during the ice-free periods 2010-2015.

Accelerated warming in the Arctic has led to concern regarding the amount of carbon emission potential from Arctic water bodies. Yet, aquatic carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) flux measurements remain scarce, particularly at high resolution and over long periods of time. Effluxes of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from Toolik Lake, a deep glacial lake in northern Alaska, were measured for the first time with the direct eddy covariance (EC) flux technique during six ice-free lake periods (2010-2015). CO2 flux estimates from the lake (daily average efflux of 16.7 ± 5.3 mmol m-2 d-1) were in good agreement with earlier estimates from 1975-1989 using different methods. CH4 effluxes in 2010-2015 (averaging 0.13 ± 0.06 mmol m-2 d-1) showed an interannual variation that was 4.1 times greater than median diel variations, but mean fluxes were almost one order of magnitude lower than earlier estimates obtained from single water samples in 1990 and 2011-2012. The overall global warming potential (GWP) of Toolik Lake is thus governed mostly by CO2 effluxes, contributing 86-93% of the ice-free period GWP of 26-90 g CO2,eq m-2. Diel variation in fluxes was also important, with up to a 2-fold (CH4) to 4-fold (CO2) difference between the highest nighttime and lowest daytime effluxes. Within the summer ice-free period, on average, CH4 fluxes increased 2-fold during the first half of the summer, then remained almost constant, whereas CO2 effluxes remained almost constant over the entire summer, ending with a linear increase during the last 1-2 weeks of measurements. Due to the cold bottom temperatures of this 26 m deep lake, and the absence of ebullition and episodic flux events, Toolik Lake and other deep glacial lakes are likely not hot spots for greenhouse gas emissions, but they still contribute to the overall GWP of the Arctic.

Biogeography of bacterioplankton in lakes and streams of an Arctic tundra catchment.

Bacterioplankton community composition was compared across 10 lakes and 14 streams within the catchment of Toolik Lake, a tundra lake in Arctic Alaska, during seven surveys conducted over three years using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of PCR-amplified rDNA. Bacterioplankton communities in streams draining tundra were very different than those in streams draining lakes. Communities in streams draining lakes were similar to communities in lakes. In a connected series of lakes and streams, the stream communities changed with distance from the upstream lake and with changes in water chemistry, suggesting inoculation and dilution with bacteria from soil waters or hyporheic zones. In the same system, lakes shared similar bacterioplankton communities (78% similar) that shifted gradually down the catchment. In contrast, unconnected lakes contained somewhat different communities (67% similar). We found evidence that dispersal influences bacterioplankton communities via advection and dilution (mass effects) in streams, and via inoculation and subsequent growth in lakes. The spatial pattern of bacterioplankton community composition was strongly influenced by interactions among soil water, stream, and lake environments. Our results reveal large differences in lake-specific and stream-specific bacterial community composition over restricted spatial scales (<10 km) and suggest that geographic distance and connectivity influence the distribution of bacterioplankton communities across a landscape.

Photochemical alteration of organic carbon draining permafrost soils shifts microbial metabolic pathways and stimulates respiration.

In sunlit waters, photochemical alteration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) impacts the microbial respiration of DOC to CO2. This coupled photochemical and biological degradation of DOC is especially critical for carbon budgets in the Arctic, where thawing permafrost soils increase opportunities for DOC oxidation to CO2 in surface waters, thereby reinforcing global warming. Here we show how and why sunlight exposure impacts microbial respiration of DOC draining permafrost soils. Sunlight significantly increases or decreases microbial respiration of DOC depending on whether photo-alteration produces or removes molecules that native microbial communities used prior to light exposure. Using high-resolution chemical and microbial approaches, we show that rates of DOC processing by microbes are likely governed by a combination of the abundance and lability of DOC exported from land to water and produced by photochemical processes, and the capacity and timescale that microbial communities have to adapt to metabolize photo-altered DOC.The role of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) photo-alteration in the microbial respiration of DOC to CO2 is unclear. Here, the authors show that the impact of this mechanism depends on whether photo-alteration of DOC produces or removes molecules used by native microbial communities prior to light exposure.

Ecosystem responses to climate change at a Low Arctic and a High Arctic long-term research site.

Long-term measurements of ecological effects of warming are often not statistically significant because of annual variability or signal noise. These are reduced in indicators that filter or reduce the noise around the signal and allow effects of climate warming to emerge. In this way, certain indicators act as medium pass filters integrating the signal over years-to-decades. In the Alaskan Arctic, the 25-year record of warming of air temperature revealed no significant trend, yet environmental and ecological changes prove that warming is affecting the ecosystem. The useful indicators are deep permafrost temperatures, vegetation and shrub biomass, satellite measures of canopy reflectance (NDVI), and chemical measures of soil weathering. In contrast, the 18-year record in the Greenland Arctic revealed an extremely high summer air-warming of 1.3 °C/decade; the cover of some plant species increased while the cover of others decreased. Useful indicators of change are NDVI and the active layer thickness.

Microbial community composition and function across an arctic tundra landscape.

Arctic landscapes are characterized by a diversity of ecosystems, which differ in plant species composition, litter biochemistry, and biogeochemical cycling rates. Tundra ecosystems differing in plant composition should contain compositionally and functionally distinct microbial communities that differentially transform dissolved organic matter as it moves downslope from dry, upland to wet, lowland tundra. To test this idea, we studied soil microbial communities in upland tussock, stream-side birch-willow, and lakeside wet sedge tundra in arctic Alaska, USA. These are a series of ecosystems that differ in topographic position, plant composition, and soil drainage. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analyses, coupled with compound-specific 13C isotope tracing, were used to quantify microbial community composition and function; we also assayed the activity of extracellular enzymes involved in cellulose, chitin, and lignin degradation. Surface soil from each tundra ecosystem was labeled with 13C-cellobiose,13C-N-acetylglucosamine, or 13C-vanillin. After a five-day incubation, we followed the movement of 13C into bacterial and fungal PLFAs, microbial respiration, dissolved organic carbon, and soil organic matter. Microbial community composition and function were distinct among tundra ecosystems, with tussock tundra containing a significantly greater abundance and activity of soil fungi. Although the majority of 13C-labeled substrates rapidly moved into soil organic matter in all tundra soils (i.e., 50-90% of applied 13C), microbial respiration of labeled substrates in wet sedge tundra soil was lower than in tussock and birch-willow tundra; approximately 8% of 13C-cellobiose and approximately 5% of 13C-vanillin was respired in wet sedge soil vs. 26-38% of 13C-cellobiose and 18-21% of 13C-vanillin in the other tundra ecosystems. Despite these differences, wet sedge tundra exhibited the greatest extracellular enzyme activity. Topographic variation in plant litter biochemistry and soil drainage shape the metabolic capability of soil microbial communities, which, in turn, influence the chemical composition of dissolved organic matter across the arctic tundra landscape.

Variation in dissolved organic matter controls bacterial production and community composition.

An ongoing debate in ecology revolves around how species composition and ecosystem function are related. To address the mechanistic controls of this relationship, we manipulated the composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) fed to aquatic bacteria to determine effects on both bacterial activity and community composition. Sites along terrestrial to aquatic flow paths were chosen to simulate movement of DOM through catchments, and DOM was fed to downslope and control bacterial communities. Bacterial production was measured, and DOM chemistry and bacterial community composition (using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 16S rRNA genes) were characterized following incubations. Bacterial production, dissolved organic carbon (DOC)-specific bacterial production, and DOC consumption were greatest in mesocosms fed soil water DOM; soil water DOM enhanced lake and stream bacterial production by 320-670% relative to lake and stream controls. Stream DOM added to lake bacteria depressed bacterial production relative to lake controls in the early season (-78%) but not the mid-season experiment. Addition of upslope DOM to stream and lake bacterial communities resulted in significant changes in bacterial community composition relative to controls. In four of five DOM treatments, the bacterial community composition converged to the DOM source community regardless of the initial inoculum. These results demonstrate that shifts in the supply of natural DOM were followed by changes in both bacterial production and community composition, suggesting that changes in function are likely predicated on at least an initial change in the community composition. The results indicate that variation in DOM composition of soil and surface waters influences bacterial community dynamics and controls rates of carbon processing in set patterns across the landscape.

Isolating the effects of storm events on arctic aquatic bacteria: temperature, nutrients, and community composition as controls on bacterial productivity.

Storm events can pulse nutrients and carbon from soils and provide an important subsidy to food webs in oligotrophic streams and lakes. Bacterial nutrient limitation and the potential response of stream aquatic bacteria to storm events was investigated in arctic tundra environments by manipulating both water temperature and inorganic nutrient concentrations in short (up to 4 days) and long duration (up to 2 weeks) laboratory mesocosm experiments. Inorganic N and P additions increased bacterial production ((14)C-labeled leucine uptake) up to seven times over controls, and warmer incubation temperatures increased the speed of this response to added nutrients. Bacterial cell numbers also increased in response to temperature and nutrient additions with cell-specific carbon uptake initially increasing and then declining after 2 days. Bacterial community composition (BCC; determined by means of 16S denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting) shifted rapidly in response to changes in incubation temperature and the addition of nutrients, within 2 days in some cases. While the bacteria in these habitats responded to nutrient additions with rapid changes in productivity and community composition, water temperature controlled the speed of the metabolic response and affected the resultant change in bacterial community structure, constraining the potential responses to pulsed nutrient subsidies associated with storm events. In all cases, at higher nutrient levels and temperatures the effect of initial BCC on bacterial activity was muted, suggesting a consistent, robust interaction of temperature, and nutrients controlling activity in these aquatic systems.