This study presents the isotopic composition of recent biogenic carbonates from several lacustrine species which calcify during different times of the year. The authors demonstrate that when biological offsets are corrected, the dominant cause of differences between species is the seasonal variation in temperature-dependent fractionation of oxygen isotopes. Consequently, such carbonates from lake sediments can provide proxy records of seasonal water temperature changes in the past.

Tundra vegetation and the carbon balance of Arctic ecosystems can be substantially impacted by herbivory. We tested how herbivory by brown lemmings in individual enclosure plots have impacted carbon exchange of tundra ecosystems via altering carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) fluxes. Lemmings significantly decreased net CO₂ uptake while not affecting CH₄ emissions. There was no significant difference in the subsequent growing season due to recovery of the vegetation.

After conducting large-scale deck-incubation experiments, we found that seawater acidification (SA) increased primary production (PP) in coastal waters but reduced it in pelagic zones, which is mainly regulated by local pH, light intensity, salinity, and community structure. In future oceans, SA combined with decreased upward transports of nutrients may synergistically reduce PP in pelagic zones.

Satellite observations help interpret station measurements of local carbon, water, and energy exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere and are indispensable for simulations of the same in land surface models and their evaluation. We propose generalisable and efficient approaches to systematically ensure high quality and to estimate values in data gaps. We apply them to satellite data of surface reflectance and temperature with different resolutions at the stations.

Despite today's diversity of methods to measure dissolved organic matter (DOM), its potential to give ecological information about urban surface waters has been underused. We found DOM from urban lakes and ponds to differ greatly from that of urban streams and rivers in composition as well as temporal turnover. Urban land use (the percentage of green space), nutrient supply and point source pollution were the principal drivers of DOM. We suggest including DOM composition in regular monitoring.

Tropical peat-draining rivers contain high amounts of carbon. Surprisingly, measured carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from those rivers are comparatively moderate. We compiled data from 10 Southeast Asian rivers and found that CO₂ production within these rivers is hampered by low water pH, providing a natural threshold for CO₂ emissions. Furthermore, we find that enhanced carbonate input, e.g. caused by human activities, suspends this natural threshold and causes increased CO₂ emissions.

We investigated organic matter (OM) and plant-wax-derived biomarkers in sediments and plants along the Mkhuze River to constrain OM's origin and transport pathways within South Africa's largest freshwater wetland. Presently, it efficiently captures OM, so neither transport from upstream areas nor export from the swamp occurs. Thus, we emphasize that such geomorphological features can alter OM provenance, questioning the assumption of watershed-integrated information in downstream sediments.

Coastal basins with high input of nutrients often suffer from oxygen deficiency. In summer 2018, the extent of oxygen depletion was exceptional in the Gulf of Riga. We analyzed observational data and found that extensive oxygen deficiency appeared since the water layer close to the seabed, where oxygen is consumed, was separated from the surface layer. The problem worsens if similar conditions restricting vertical transport of oxygen occur more frequently in the future.

Because soils are an important sink for greenhouse gasses, we subjected sub-alpine grassland to a six-level climate change treatment. Two independent methods showed that at warming > 1.5 °C the grassland ecosystem lost ca. 14 % or ca. 1 kg C m⁻² in 5 years. This shrinking of the terrestrial C sink implies a substantial positive feedback to the atmospheric greenhouse effect. It is likely that this dramatic C loss is a transient effect before a new, climate-adjusted steady state is reached.

Non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs (NCDs) may be an important player in fixing N₂ in the ocean. By conducting meta-analyses, we found that a representative marine NCD phylotype, Gamma A, tends to inhabit ocean environments with high productivity, low iron concentration and high light intensity. It also appears to be more abundant inside cyclonic eddies. Our study suggests a niche differentiation of NCDs from cyanobacterial diazotrophs as the latter prefers low-productivity and high-iron oceans.