Groundwater–surface water mixing shifts ecological assembly processes and stimulates organic carbon turnover

James C. Stegen (), James K. Fredrickson, Michael J. Wilkins, Allan E. Konopka, William C. Nelson, Evan V. Arntzen, William B. Chrisler, Rosalie K. Chu, Robert E. Danczak, Sarah J. Fansler, David W. Kennedy, Charles T. Resch and Malak Tfaily
Additional contact information
James C. Stegen: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
James K. Fredrickson: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
Michael J. Wilkins: The Ohio State University
Allan E. Konopka: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
William C. Nelson: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
Evan V. Arntzen: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
William B. Chrisler: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
Rosalie K. Chu: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
Robert E. Danczak: The Ohio State University
Sarah J. Fansler: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
David W. Kennedy: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
Charles T. Resch: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
Malak Tfaily: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Environmental transitions often result in resource mixtures that overcome limitations to microbial metabolism, resulting in biogeochemical hotspots and moments. Riverine systems, where groundwater mixes with surface water (the hyporheic zone), are spatially complex and temporally dynamic, making development of predictive models challenging. Spatial and temporal variations in hyporheic zone microbial communities are a key, but understudied, component of riverine biogeochemical function. Here, to investigate the coupling among groundwater–surface water mixing, microbial communities and biogeochemistry, we apply ecological theory, aqueous biogeochemistry, DNA sequencing and ultra-high-resolution organic carbon profiling to field samples collected across times and locations representing a broad range of mixing conditions. Our results indicate that groundwater–surface water mixing in the hyporheic zone stimulates heterotrophic respiration, alters organic carbon composition, causes ecological processes to shift from stochastic to deterministic and is associated with elevated abundances of microbial taxa that may degrade a broad suite of organic compounds.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11237

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