Articles | Volume 20, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2301-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2301-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
21 Jun 2023
Research article |
| 21 Jun 2023
| 21 Jun 2023
Glacier loss and vegetation expansion alter organic and inorganic carbon dynamics in high-mountain streams
River Ecosystems Laboratory, Center for Alpine and Polar Environmental Research (ALPOLE), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Nicola Deluigi
River Ecosystems Laboratory, Center for Alpine and Polar Environmental Research (ALPOLE), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Camille Rolland
River Ecosystems Laboratory, Center for Alpine and Polar Environmental Research (ALPOLE), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Nicolas Manetti
River Ecosystems Laboratory, Center for Alpine and Polar Environmental Research (ALPOLE), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Tom Battin
River Ecosystems Laboratory, Center for Alpine and Polar Environmental Research (ALPOLE), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Related authors
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Jonas Paccolat, Pietro de Anna, Stuart Nicholas Lane, Hannes Markus Peter, and Tom Ian Battin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1664, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1664, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Short summary
With the retreat of glaciers, barren areas become prone to life settlement. Biofilms, surface attached colonies of microbes, are pioneer species which grow into millimeter thick mats in low flow streams. We studied how such bio-clogging enhance water availability on initially dry lateral terraces. Mat permeability was quantified from streamside flume experiments and an idealized terrace model was conceived to estimate stream elongation. A large effect is expected for permeable terraces.
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Short summary
Climate change is affecting mountain ecosystems intensely, including the loss of glaciers and the uphill migration of plants. How these changes will affect the streams draining these landscapes is unclear. We sampled streams across a gradient of glacier and vegetation cover in Switzerland and found glacier loss reduced the carbon dioxide sink from weathering, while vegetation cover increased dissolved organic carbon in the stream. These changes are important to consider for mountains globally.
Climate change is affecting mountain ecosystems intensely, including the loss of glaciers and...
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