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Creators/Authors contains: "McDowell, William"

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  1. Here we provide percent contribution of mineral associated (i.e., heavy fraction - HF) and relatively more labile (i.e., light fraction - LF) organic matter through soil profiles and along hillslope catena within sites in the Critical Zone Network (CZNet) Geomicrobiology cluster. Each sample is separated into a HF an a LF utilizing a 1.85 g cm-3 sodium polytungstate (3Na2WO4·9WO3·H2O or Na6 [H2W12O40]) solution. The resultant fractions are run for percent carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) and their associated stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) to offer novel insights in soil organic matter processes. Samples that were either too small for analytical analysis or below instrument detection limit are labeled with BDL. 
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  2. The pace and trajectory of ecosystem development are governed by the availability and cycling of limiting nutrients, and anthropogenic disturbances such as acid rain and deforestation alter these trajectories by removing substantial quantities of nutrients via titration or harvest. Here, we use six decades of continuous chemical and hydrologic data from three adjacent headwater catchments in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire—one deforested (W5), one CaSiO3-enriched (W1), and one reference (W6)—to quantify long-term nutrient and mineral fluxes. Acid deposition since 1900 drove pronounced depletion and export of base cations, particularly calcium, across all watersheds. Experimental deforestation of W5 intensified loss of biomass and nutrient cations and triggered sustained increases in streamwater pH, Ca2+, and SiO2exports over nearly four decades, greatly exceeding the effects of direct CaSiO3enrichment in both duration and magnitude. We detect no long-term changes in water yield or water flow paths in the experimental watersheds, and we attribute this multidecadal increase in weathering rates following deforestation to biological responses to severe nutrient limitation. Our evidence suggests that in the regrowing forest, plants are investing photosynthate into belowground processes that amplify mineral weathering to access phosphorus and micronutrients, consequently elevating the export of less limiting elements present in silicate parent material. Throughout decades of forest regrowth, enhanced biotic weathering has continued to deplete the acid buffering capacity of the terrestrial ecosystem while the export of weathering products has elevated the pH of the receiving stream. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available October 21, 2026
  3. Stream metabolism, encompassing gross primary production and ecosystem respiration, reflects the fundamental energetic dynamics of freshwater ecosystems. These processes regulate the concentrations of dissolved gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide, which in turn shape aquatic food webs and ecosystem responses to stressors such as floods, drought, and nutrient loading. Historically difficult to quantify, stream metabolism is now measurable at high temporal resolution thanks to advances in sensor technology and modeling. The StreamPULSE dataset includes high-frequency sensor data, metadata, and modeled estimates of ecosystem metabolism. This living dataset contributes to a growing body of open-access data characterizing the metabolic pulse of stream ecosystems worldwide. To contribute to StreamPULSE, visit data.streampulse.org. All data contributed to StreamPULSE become public after an optional embargo period. Use this publication to access annual data releases, or use data.streampulse.org to download new data as they become available. 
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  4. Free, publicly-accessible full text available April 1, 2026
  5. Abstract Soils are a principal global reservoir of mercury (Hg), a neurotoxic pollutant that is accumulating through anthropogenic emissions to the atmosphere and subsequent deposition to terrestrial ecosystems. The fate of Hg in global soils remains uncertain, however, particularly to what degree Hg is re-emitted back to the atmosphere as gaseous elemental mercury (GEM). Here we use fallout radionuclide (FRN) chronometry to directly measure Hg accumulation rates in soils. By comparing these rates with measured atmospheric fluxes in a mass balance approach, we show that representative Arctic, boreal, temperate, and tropical soils are quantitatively efficient at retaining anthropogenic Hg. Potential for significant GEM re-emission appears limited to a minority of coniferous soils, calling into question global models that assume strong re-emission of legacy Hg from soils. FRN chronometry poses a powerful tool to reconstruct terrestrial Hg accumulation across larger spatial scales than previously possible, while offering insights into the susceptibility of Hg mobilization from different soil environments. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2025
  6. This data is an on-going collection of soil temperature, soil moisture, soil CO2 concentration, and soil O2 concentration starting in October 2021. We have installed sensors and probes at different soil depths across landscapes in five of the former Critical Zone Observatory locations (see the document named "sensor location"). Soil temperature and moisture are measured using Acclima SDI-12 sensors. Soil CO2 concentrations are measured using Eosense CO2 probes (switching to Vaisala GMP343 and GMP251 in 2023). Soil O2 concentrations are measured using Apogee SO-110-L-10 soil oxygen sensors. This dataset, along with our measurements of soil geomicrobiology and biogeochemistry (available in EarthChem), will help us understand the role of microbes as drivers of Critical Zone biogeochemistry and soil formation. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2025
  7. Abstract The seasonal behavior of fluvial dissolved silica (DSi) concentrations, termedDSi regime, mediates the timing of DSi delivery to downstream waters and thus governs river biogeochemical function and aquatic community condition. Previous work identified five distinct DSi regimes across rivers spanning the Northern Hemisphere, with many rivers exhibiting multiple DSi regimes over time. Several potential drivers of DSi regime behavior have been identified at small scales, including climate, land cover, and lithology, and yet the large‐scale spatiotemporal controls on DSi regimes have not been identified. We evaluate the role of environmental variables on the behavior of DSi regimes in nearly 200 rivers across the Northern Hemisphere using random forest models. Our models aim to elucidate the controls that give rise to (a) average DSi regime behavior, (b) interannual variability in DSi regime behavior (i.e., Annual DSi regime), and (c) controls on DSi regime shape (i.e., minimum and maximum DSi concentrations). Average DSi regime behavior across the period of record was classified accurately 59% of the time, whereas Annual DSi regime behavior was classified accurately 80% of the time. Climate and primary productivity variables were important in predicting Average DSi regime behavior, whereas climate and hydrologic variables were important in predicting Annual DSi regime behavior. Median nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were important drivers of minimum and maximum DSi concentrations, indicating that these macronutrients may be important for seasonal DSi drawdown and rebound. Our findings demonstrate that fluctuations in climate, hydrology, and nutrient availability of rivers shape the temporal availability of fluvial DSi. 
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  8. Abstract Nitrogen (N) wet deposition chemistry impacts watershed biogeochemical cycling. The timescale and magnitude of (a)synchrony between wet deposition N inputs and watershed N outputs remains unresolved. We quantify deposition‐river N (a)synchrony with transfer entropy (TE), an information theory metric enabling quantification of lag‐dependent feedbacks in a hydrologic system by calculating directional information flow between variables. Synchrony is defined as a significant amount of TE‐calculated reduction in uncertainty of river N from wet deposition N after conditioning for antecedent river N conditions. Using long‐term timeseries of wet deposition and river DON, NO3, and NH4+concentrations from the Lamprey River watershed, New Hampshire (USA), we constrain the role of wet deposition N to watershed biogeochemistry. Wet deposition N contributed information to river N at timescales greater than quick‐flow runoff generation, indicating that river N losses are a lagged non‐linear function of hydro‐biogeochemical forcings. River DON received the most information from all three wet deposition N solutes while wet deposition DON and NH4+contributed the most information to all three river N solutes. Information theoretic algorithms facilitated data‐driven inferences on the hydro‐biogeochemical processes influencing the fate of N wet deposition. For example, signals of mineralization and assimilation at a timescale of 12 to 21‐weeks lag display greater synchrony than nitrification, and we find that N assimilation is a positive lagged function of increasing N wet deposition. Although wet deposition N is not the main driver of river N, it contributes a significant amount of information resolvable at time scales of transport and transformations. 
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