Biogeosciences, 14, 4391–4407, 2017 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4391-2017 © Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Carbon and nutrient export regimes from headwater catchments to downstream reaches Rémi Dupas1,5, Andreas Musolff2, James W. Jawitz3, P. Suresh C. Rao4, Christoph G. Jäger1, Jan H. Fleckenstein2, Michael Rode1, and Dietrich Borchardt1 1Department of Aquatic Ecosystems Analysis and Management, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Magdeburg, Germany 2Department of Hydrogeology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Leipzig, Germany 3Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA 4School of Civil Engineering and Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA 5INRA, UMR1069 SAS, 35000 Rennes, France Correspondence to: Rémi Dupas (
[email protected]) Received: 14 March 2017 – Discussion started: 10 May 2017 Revised: 1 September 2017 – Accepted: 5 September 2017 – Published: 29 September 2017 Abstract. Excessive amounts of nutrients and dissolved or- mestic contributions in the downstream reaches. Monitoring ganic matter in freshwater bodies affect aquatic ecosystems. the river continuum from headwaters to downstream reaches In this study, the spatial and temporal variability in nitrate proved effective to jointly investigate land-to-stream and in- − (NO3 ), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and soluble reactive stream transport, and transformation processes. phosphorus (SRP) was analyzed in the Selke (Germany) river continuum from three headwaters draining 1–3 km2 catch- ments to two downstream reaches representing spatially in- 1 Introduction tegrated signals from 184–456 km2 catchments. Three head- water catchments were selected as archetypes of the main Riverine exports are a key component in the global biogeo- landscape units (land use × lithology) present in the Selke chemical cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus catchment.