DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Tracing autochthonous carbon production and fate in a mountain stream

本次博士论文改进项目将研究河流中碳的运动和转化。小溪和河流并非仅仅是输送碳的被动管道。通过光合作用主动吸收碳，随后通过呼吸作用释放碳，这些都发生在溪流中，当水从陆地流向海洋时，会导致与大气进行复杂的碳交换模式。这项研究将测量山间溪流中被呼吸、储存在生物体中并向下游输送的碳量。目前的淡水碳预算包括陆地碳加工的作用，但没有解决河流内碳固定和加工的作用，因此可能低估了二氧化碳从河流向大气转移、碳掩埋和下游碳出口的速率。这项研究将有助于完善我们对河流和河流在景观中碳运动中所起作用的理解。

This doctoral dissertation improvement project will study the movement and transformation of carbon in streams. Streams and rivers are not passive pipes that merely transport carbon. Active uptake of carbon through photosynthesis and subsequent release of carbon through respiration takes place in streams and can lead to complex patterns of carbon exchange with the atmosphere as water moves from land to the oceans. This study will measure the amount of carbon in mountain streams that is respired, stored in living organisms, and transported downstream. Current freshwater carbon budgets include the role of terrestrial carbon processing, but have not addressed the role of in-stream carbon fixation and processing and, consequently, may underestimate rates of carbon dioxide transfer from streams to the atmosphere, carbon burial, and carbon export downstream. This study will help complete our understanding of the role streams and rivers play in carbon movement in the landscape.