Drying and rewetting of riverbed sediments results in cold to neutral biogeochemical moments
Abstract
Sediment respiration in streams/rivers impacts global biogeochemical cycles, yet is mostly studied under perennially-inundated conditions despite all river corridors having variably inundated areas and most streams going dry each year. Previous experiments observed sediment rewetting to cause elevated or suppressed aerobic respiration, indicating variation across studies. To deepen understanding, we conducted 21-day wet/dry experiments with sediments from 64 streams spread across the contiguous United States. Here we show that drying and rewetting sediments from perennial and non-perennial streams had near-neutral effects or suppressed O ₂ consumption rates. These biogeochemical cold moments contrast previous studies that observed hot moments. Sediment texture and microbial activity explained variation in responses to rewetting, but this did not reveal why some studies observed cold moments while others observed hot moments. To solve this we propose a unifying conceptual model whereby hot and cold moments exist simultaneously upon rewetting by considering both dry-state and perennially-inundated reference points.
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BibTeX
@article{garayburucaruso2026drying,
title = {{Drying and rewetting of riverbed sediments results in cold to neutral biogeochemical moments}},
author = {Vanessa Garayburu-Caruso and Maggi Laan and Laura Coulson and Dillman Delgado and Brieanne Forbes and Amy Goldman and Sophia McKever and Lupita Renteria and Kenton Rod and Allison Veach and Mariana Vergara and James Stegen},
journal = {Communications Earth \& Environment},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s43247-026-04081-y},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-04081-y},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Drying and rewetting of riverbed sediments results in cold to neutral biogeochemical moments
AU - Vanessa Garayburu-Caruso
AU - Maggi Laan
AU - Laura Coulson
AU - Dillman Delgado
AU - Brieanne Forbes
AU - Amy Goldman
AU - Sophia McKever
AU - Lupita Renteria
AU - Kenton Rod
AU - Allison Veach
AU - Mariana Vergara
AU - James Stegen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Communications Earth & Environment
DO - 10.1038/s43247-026-04081-y
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-04081-y
AB - Sediment respiration in streams/rivers impacts global biogeochemical cycles, yet is mostly studied under perennially-inundated conditions despite all river corridors having variably inundated areas and most streams going dry each year. Previous experiments observed sediment rewetting to cause elevated or suppressed aerobic respiration, indicating variation across studies. To deepen understanding, we conducted 21-day wet/dry experiments with sediments from 64 streams spread across the contiguous United States. Here we show that drying and rewetting sediments from perennial and non-perennial streams had near-neutral effects or suppressed O ₂ consumption rates. These biogeochemical cold moments contrast previous studies that observed hot moments. Sediment texture and microbial activity explained variation in responses to rewetting, but this did not reveal why some studies observed cold moments while others observed hot moments. To solve this we propose a unifying conceptual model whereby hot and cold moments exist simultaneously upon rewetting by considering both dry-state and perennially-inundated reference points.
SN - 2662-4435
ER -