Metabolism and decomposition rates from 5 Lake Superior Tributaries, 2018-2019

Ecosystem respiration (ER), and decomposition are fundamental processes driving carbon cycling in streams. Most studies examine rates of autotrophic respiration (AR) and heterotrophic respiration (HR) together as ecosystem respiration (ER), even though these two processes are carried out by different groups of organisms, and these processes, alongside decomposition, may respond differently to ongoing changes in environmental factors. We measured metabolism (gross primary production and ER) and decomposition at eight sites in four streams in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan across gradients of canopy cover and DOC concentrations. We estimated AR and HR using quantile regression and used predictive modeling to determine the environmental drivers that predicted variation in these processes across the study streams. This data archive includes (1) continuous dissolved oxygen and temperature data used to model metabolism, (2) modeled rates of gross primary production, ecosystem respiration, autotrophic respiration and heterotrophic respiration, (3) estimates of decomposition rates determined using cotton strip assays, and (4) environmental model used for predictive modeling