Continental‐scale seston stoichiometry reveals fundamental constraints on the elemental composition of particles transported by streams

Abstract

Suspended particulate matter, or seston, represents an understudied flux of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in river networks. Here, we summarize riverine seston C : N : P stoichiometry data from 27 streams and rivers sampled regularly from 2014 to 2022 across the United States by the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). We examine relationships among seston C, N, and P content using standardized major‐axis (SMA) and ordinary least squares slopes to test congruence with a constant‐ratio model (scaling coefficient = 1), and hierarchical models to identify watershed‐level covariates of seston C : nutrient stoichiometric allometry. At the continental scale, C and N were tightly coupled and conformed to the constant‐ratio model, while seston C : P and N : P indicated weaker coupling and inconstant ratios across the range of C vs. P and N vs. P values. At the stream‐site scale, C : N, C : P, and N : P often exhibited slopes < 1, indicating that within individual streams seston becomes more nutrient‐rich as seston concentration increases. Watershed forest cover, season, and discharge helped explain stoichiometric allometry across streams, where forested sites in wetter climates had lower scaling slopes, and slopes decreased with low flows. Our study underscores the importance of suspended particles as a material flux in river networks and highlights the interplay between biotic and abiotic factors that drive the relative consistency of its C : nutrient stoichiometry during transport from local to continental scales.