Dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOM, POM) are key components of the global C cycle and important as potential sources of CO2, and for the long-term preservation of carbon stabilized in subsoils and sediments. DOM and POM are key sources of energy for microbial metabolism within terrestrial ecosystems, the aquatic continuum, and ultimately the ocean. Despite recent evidence showing this lateral transport of carbon is linked to anthropogenic perturbations, efforts to integrate DOM and POM fluxes across the terrestrial-aquatic continuum are just emerging. A comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of DOM and POM in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems remains challenging due to complex interactions of biogeochemical and hydrological processes at different scales, i.e. from the molecular to the landscape scale.
This session aims to improve our understanding of organic matter processing at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We solicit contributions dealing with amounts, composition, reactivity and fate of DOM and POM and its constituents (i.e. C, N, P, S) in soils, lakes, rivers and the coastal ocean as well as the impact of land use change and climatic change on these processes. For example, it is important to recognize the key role of peatlands as sources of organic matter for many streams and rivers as well as soil erosion induced lateral fluxes of sediment and carbon at the catchment scale when assessing C dynamics across the terrestrial-aquatic continuum. Therefore, we aim to bring together scientists from various backgrounds, but all devoted to the study of dissolved and/or particulate organic matter using a broad spectrum of methodological approaches (e.g. molecular, spectroscopic, isotopic, 14C, other tracers, and modeling).