Urban beaver ponds show limited impact on stream carbon quantity in contrast to stormwater ponds

Abstract

Urban beaver and stormwater ponds provide hydrologic retention in the landscape while collecting dissolved organic matter (DOM)-rich runoff that can promote primary productivity. Our objective was to determine how the quantity, source, and bioavailability of DOM changed across urban stormwater and beaver pond systems, then compare the two pond types to each other. We measured dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and specific ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (SUVA₂₅₄) from upstream, within, and downstream of seven ponds in Atlanta, GA, USA, biweekly from March to December 2021. Additionally, we completed 28-day laboratory microcosm incubations of pond in- and out-flow during summer and autumn of 2021. We found higher concentrations of DOC in the pond and outflows of stormwater ponds, whereas beaver ponds did not cause any change. Effects of pond type (beaver vs. stormwater) were greater than other controls on concentration, including flow and season. In contrast, SUVA₂₅₄ showed a shift toward more aromatic carbon below both systems without a clear difference between pond types. Beaver and stormwater pond outflows had similar ranges of DOM bioavailability in summer, but during autumn bioavailability at both sites declined to near zero. Overall, we found that stormwater ponds and beaver ponds had similar impacts on aromaticity and bioavailability, however stormwater ponds increased the quantity of DOC while beaver ponds did not. This suggests that in addition to increasing hydrologic residence times in urbanized systems, urban beaver ponds may limit the export of bioavailable carbon and reduce microbial processing downstream.