Spatial and Temporal Shifts in Dissolved Organic Matter Character Across a Burned Stream Network

Abstract

Increasing wildfire activity can impact the global carbon cycle, aquatic ecosystem health, and drinking water treatment through alterations in aquatic dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition. However, uncertainty remains about the spatial and temporal variability in wildfire effects on DOM composition. We sought to improve understanding of how burn severity affects stream DOM and how weather, hydrology, and landscape factors contribute to variability in post-fire DOM responses across space and time. Following a large 2020 wildfire in Oregon, USA, we collected water samples to quantify dissolved organic carbon and DOM optical properties at 129 stream sites across the fire-affected stream network. Sampling was repeated across seasonal hydrologic conditions to capture variation in hydrologic pathways and organic matter sources. We developed a PARAFAC model using excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) and used spatial stream network (SSN) models to determine how DOM composition changed across the stream network with burn severity. The greatest shifts in DOM composition were observed during the dry and wetting seasons, with an increase in aromatic DOM at higher burn severities. In contrast, an increase in protein-like DOM was observed during the wet season at higher burn severities. Drainage area, 31-day and 1-day antecedent precipitation, and baseflow index impacted the relationship between DOM composition and burn severity, which could partially explain the variability in post-fire DOM responses. Our study contributes a mechanistic understanding of how wildfire impacts DOM sources and composition, which is critical to predicting wildfire effects on aquatic biogeochemical cycling and preserving ecosystem health and source water quality.