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Peer-reviewedCC BYCommunications Earth & Environment

Seasonal dynamics of aquatic organic carbon driven by floating-mat formation in a terrestrializing lake

  • Geng Cui1
  • Yan Liu1
  • Long Yan1
  • Shouzheng Tong1
  • Ming Jiang1
  • Chuanyu Gao1
  • Weiyu Huang1
  • Xin Liu2
  1. 1Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  2. 2College of Geographic Sciences, Changchun Normal University
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Abstract

Lakes are important components of the land carbon cycle, but how floating mats during lake terrestrialization reshape aquatic organic carbon remains unclear. Here we show, using seasonal field observations, carbon isotope tracing, and structural equation modelling, that floating mats reorganize dissolved and particulate organic carbon in a floating wetland system. During the growing season, acidic and hypoxic water beneath floating mats forms a hotspot of dissolved organic carbon accumulation, with concentrations exceeding 200 mg/L, compared with values below 40 mg/L in nearby open-water zones. Ice-covered conditions weaken this local gradient and produce more uniform dissolved organic carbon distributions. Source tracing indicates a shift from floating-mat-derived organic matter near the mats to stronger nearshore contributions away from them. Structural equation modelling further links carbon variability to biological production, water chemistry, temperature, and sediment–water exchange. These findings show that floating mats act as both sources and modulators of aquatic organic carbon during lake terrestrialization.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{cui2026seasonal,
  title = {{Seasonal dynamics of aquatic organic carbon driven by floating-mat formation in a terrestrializing lake}},
  author = {Geng Cui and Yan Liu and Long Yan and Shouzheng Tong and Ming Jiang and Chuanyu Gao and Weiyu Huang and Xin Liu},
  journal = {Communications Earth \& Environment},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.1038/s43247-026-03972-4},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03972-4},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Seasonal dynamics of aquatic organic carbon driven by floating-mat formation in a terrestrializing lake
AU  - Geng Cui
AU  - Yan Liu
AU  - Long Yan
AU  - Shouzheng Tong
AU  - Ming Jiang
AU  - Chuanyu Gao
AU  - Weiyu Huang
AU  - Xin Liu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/01
JO  - Communications Earth & Environment
DO  - 10.1038/s43247-026-03972-4
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03972-4
AB  - Lakes are important components of the land carbon cycle, but how floating mats during lake terrestrialization reshape aquatic organic carbon remains unclear. Here we show, using seasonal field observations, carbon isotope tracing, and structural equation modelling, that floating mats reorganize dissolved and particulate organic carbon in a floating wetland system. During the growing season, acidic and hypoxic water beneath floating mats forms a hotspot of dissolved organic carbon accumulation, with concentrations exceeding 200 mg/L, compared with values below 40 mg/L in nearby open-water zones. Ice-covered conditions weaken this local gradient and produce more uniform dissolved organic carbon distributions. Source tracing indicates a shift from floating-mat-derived organic matter near the mats to stronger nearshore contributions away from them. Structural equation modelling further links carbon variability to biological production, water chemistry, temperature, and sediment–water exchange. These findings show that floating mats act as both sources and modulators of aquatic organic carbon during lake terrestrialization.
SN  - 2662-4435
ER  -