Poster Details
SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL HETEROGENEITY IN ORGANIC CARBON WITHIN A SEMI-ARID URBAN STREAM
Modification of landscapes due to urbanization has led to extensive changes in the amount, sources, and transport of carbon to streams. Changes to vegetation alter the quantity and quality of organic C inputs while changes to land cover and hydrologic networks affect the transport of C to streams. However, the effects of urbanization on C dynamics in streams are inconsistent across studies, and there is likely substantial variation in C inputs and transport even within single urban watersheds. To address this variation, we collected synoptic water samples every 200 m along an urban stream in Pocatello, ID to identify spatial patterns of dissolved and particulate organic carbon concentrations and relate these to land use, land cover, and stormwater infrastructure within a single watershed. These spatial samples were combined with high frequency measurement of fluorescence dissolved organic matter (fDOM) at two locations within the stream network to understand temporal variation in C transport at event to seasonal time scales. Initial results suggest significant heterogeneity in organic carbon concentrations over both space and time that are related to urban land cover characteristics.
Sophie Hill (Primary Presenter/Author), Idaho State University, hillsoph@isu.edu;