The stable carbon isotopic composition of Daphnia ephippia in small, temperate lakes reflects in-lake methane availability

Schilder, Jos; Bastviken, David; van Hardenbroek, Maarten; Leuenberger, Markus; Rinta, Päivi; Stötter, Tabea; Heiri, Oliver (2015). The stable carbon isotopic composition of Daphnia ephippia in small, temperate lakes reflects in-lake methane availability. Limnology and Oceanography, 60(3), pp. 1064-1075. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. 10.1002/lno.10079

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Daphnia can ingest methane-oxidizing bacteria and incorporate methanogenic carbon into their biomass, leading to low stable carbon isotope ratios (expressed as δ13C values) of their tissue. Therefore, δ13C analysis of Daphnia resting eggs (ephippia) in lake sediment records can potentially be used to reconstruct past in-lake availability of methane (CH4). However, detailed multilake studies demonstrating that δ13C values of recently deposited Daphnia ephippia (δ13Cephippia) are systematically related to in-lake CH4 concentrations (CH4aq) are still missing. We measured δ13Cephippia from surface sediments of 15 small lakes in Europe, and compared these values with late-summer CH4aq. δ13Cephippia ranged from −51.6‰ to −25.9‰, and was strongly correlated with CH4aq in the surface water and above the sediment (r −0.73 and −0.77, respectively), whereas a negative rather than the expected positive correlation was found with δ13C values of carbon dioxide (CO2) (r −0.54), and no correlation was observed with CO2aq. At eight sites, offsets between δ13 CCO2 and δ13Cephippia exceeded offsets between δ13 CCO2 and δ13Calgae reported in literature. δ13Cephippia was positively correlated with δ13C values of sedimentary organic matter (r 0.54), but up to 20.7‰ lower in all except one of the lakes (average −6.1‰). We conclude that incorporation of methanogenic carbon prior to ephippia formation must have been widespread by Daphnia in our study lakes, especially those with high CH4aq. Our results suggest a systematic relationship between δ13Cephippia values and CH4aq in small temperate lakes, and that δ13Cephippia analysis on sediment records may provide insights into past changes in in-lake CH4aq.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Palaeoecology
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS)

Graduate School:

Graduate School of Climate Sciences

UniBE Contributor:

Schilder, Johannes Cornelis, van Hardenbroek, Maarten Reinier, Leuenberger, Markus, Rinta, Päivi Johanna, Stötter, Tabea, Heiri, Oliver

Subjects:

500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany)
500 Science > 530 Physics

ISSN:

0024-3590

Publisher:

American Society of Limnology and Oceanography.

Language:

English

Submitter:

Peter Alfred von Ballmoos-Haas

Date Deposited:

26 May 2015 13:49

Last Modified:

02 Mar 2023 23:26

Publisher DOI:

10.1002/lno.10079

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.69089

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/69089

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