Fingerprinting the elemental composition and chemodiversity of vegetation leachates: consequences for dissolved organic matter dynamics in Arctic environments

• Published in: Biogeochemistry
• Main Authors: Allain, Alienor, Alexis, Marie, Bridoux, Maxime, Humbert, Guillaume, Agnan, Yannick, Rouelle, Maryse
• Other Authors: Milieux Environnementaux, Transferts et Interactions dans les hydrosystèmes et les Sols (METIS), École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), DAM Île-de-France (DAM/DIF), Direction des Applications Militaires (DAM), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (iEES Paris ), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Institut Ecologie et Environnement - CNRS Ecologie et Environnement (INEE-CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Toulouse (UT), Biologie et écologie des milieux continentaux, Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), EC2CO METIS
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Water extractable organic matter; Chemical characterization; Multi-analyses approach; Arctic ecosystem shift; Organic matter dynamics; [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces; environment; [CHIM.ORGA]Chemical Sciences/Organic chemistry; [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment/Ecosystems; Arctic; Subarctic
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03833045; https://doi.org/10.1007/S10533-022-00925-9

International audience Dissolved organic matter is a key compartment for biogeochemical cycles in the Arctic and Subarctic terrestrial environments. With changing vegetation ecosystems, the chemical composition of organic matter is expected to shift and thus, the most labile part of it, namely the extractable fraction. To this date, few studies have focused on the fingerprinting of DOM fraction from different primary sources, and even less on its potential repercussions on the environment. In this study, we jointly characterized the chemical composition of bulk and water-extractable organic matter (WEOM) from different vegetation species typical of Subarctic ecosystems. Through a multi-analyses approach, including elementary analysis, solid state C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance, UV and 3D fluorescence spectroscopy, and high-resolution mass spectrometry, our results highlighted that the quantity and composition of produced WEOM significantly differed between vegetation sources and specifically between plant functional types (PFT, e.g., lichens, graminoids, and trees and shrubs). The relevance of optical indices was questioned, and the use of several of them was discarded for unprocessed WEOM study. However, the DOM proxies (optical indices, molecular composition, and stoichiometry) enabled to conclude that the lichen WEOM was likely less degradable than vascular plants WEOM, and among the latter group, graminoids produced more degradable WEOM than trees and shrubs. This work reported specific organic fingerprints for the different PFT. Consequently, the ongoing changes of vegetation in Arctic and Subarctic regions may greatly affect the composition of DOM that enters the soil and the hydrosystems, as well as the biogeochemical processes it is involved in.