Stable isotope composition of suspended particulate organic matter in twenty reservoirs from Guangdong, southern China: Implications for pelagic carbon and nitrogen cycling

• We studied seasonal variations in carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of POM in reservoirs.
• Variation in δ13CPOM followed seasonal thermal and hydrological cycles.
• The seasonal pattern is complicated by phytoplankton assimilation of agricultural and atmospheric nitrogen.
• Nutrient availability is important in the summer, and thermal and solar radiation inputs in the dry and cold winter.
• 15NPOM depletion and enrichment point to the importance of different anthropogenic sources of nitrogen.

We studied seasonal variations in the carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) of particulate organic matter (POM) in the surface water of 20 man-made reservoirs in southern China during March, August and December 2010. These reservoirs are located from subtropical to tropical region, varied in trophic states and were influenced by several types of human activities. The geomorphometric and biogeochemical gradients in tropical/subtropical regions are complicated and poorly understood because of low variation in temperature and high variation in hydrological processes. The POM samples were collected from all the reservoirs to assess the seasonal variation patterns of δ13CPOM and δ15NPOM. Variation in δ13CPOM followed seasonal thermal and hydrological cycles. By contrast, δ15NPOM did not seasonally differ, which may have been complicated by phytoplankton assimilation of N originating in agricultural waste entering the reservoirs and of atmospheric nitrogen during the wet season as well as an increased relative contribution of animal waste in the reservoirs in the dry season. Within each sampling period, nutrient availability is more important than thermal and solar radiation inputs in the summer, and these physical drivers are more important during the dry and cold winter month in controlling δ13CPOM and δ15NPOM. On an annual basis, trophic states (total P, total N and chlorophyll a) are the primary drivers for the changes in both δ13CPOM and δ15NPOM across reservoirs. When the seasonal effect is removed using annual averages from each reservoir, we found that latitude, trophic states, pH, rainfall, water temperature, reservoir age, catchment area to reservoir area (CA:RA) ratio and together explained about 80% of the variance in both δ13CPOM and δ15NPOM. Our findings also suggest that the trend of δ15NPOM is less predictable than δ13CPOM. The consistent 15N depletion and enrichment of POM in different reservoirs point to the importance of different anthropogenic sources of nitrogen in the reservoirs.

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