Multiple sources and sinks of dissolved inorganic carbon across Swedish streams, refocusing the lens of stable C isotopes

Abstract It is well established that stream dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fluxes play a central role in the global C cycle, yet the sources of stream DIC remain to a large extent unresolved. Here, we explore large-scale patterns in δ 13 C-DIC from streams across Sweden to separate and further quantify the sources and sinks of stream DIC. We found that stream DIC is governed by a variety of sources and sinks including biogenic and geogenic sources, CO 2 evasion, as well as in-stream processes. Although soil respiration was the main source of DIC across all streams, a geogenic DIC influence was identified in the northernmost region. All streams were affected by various degrees of atmospheric CO 2 evasion, but residual variance in δ 13 C-DIC also indicated a significant influence of in-stream metabolism and anaerobic processes. Due to those multiple sources and sinks, we emphasize that simply quantifying aquatic DIC fluxes will not be sufficient to characterise their role in the global C cycle.