Abstract
Hyporheic zones (HZ) can contribute substantially to total stream ecosystem respiration (ERtot). HZ-focused process-based models may, therefore, effectively predict ERtot across sites, yet this remains untested under variable environmental conditions. Here, we evaluate whether spatial variation in HZ respiration predicted via a process-based model explains spatial variation in field-estimates of ERtot across 33 sites in the Yakima River basin in Washington State, USA. We found that HZ respiration predictions did not explain spatial variation in field estimates of ERtot. To investigate further, we partitioned ERtot contributions into water-column respiration (ERwc) and sediment-associated respiration (ERsed). ERsed contributed >50% of ERtot at 88% of sites, though relative contributions varied substantially. Despite this dominance, modeled HZ respiration explained neither spatial variation in ERtot nor in ERsed, suggesting that the HZ model alone does not capture the drivers of sediment-associated respiration across these sites. Instead, ERsed spatial variation was primarily explained by gross primary production, stream slope, velocity, and total dissolved nitrogen rather than median grain size, a primary control of HZ respiration predicted by the process-based model. Consistent with recent studies, our results indicate that improving basin-scale ERtot predictions requires integrating hydrologic and biogeochemical processes across hyporheic, benthic, and water-column zones.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the United States Forest Service, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, and Cowiche Canyon Conservancy for access to field locations where these samples were collected. We also thank the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation Tribal Council and Yakama Nation Fisheries for working with us to facilitate sample collection and optimization of data usage according to their values and worldview. We thank the field team including Dillman Delgado, Morgan Barnes, Brandon T. Boehnke, Yunxiang Chen, Kali Cornwell, Brianna I. Gonzalez, Samantha Grieger, Glenn E. Hammond, Peishi Jiang, Bing Li, Zhi Li, Xinming Lin, Sophia A. McKever, Maruti K. Mudunuru, Katherine A. Muller, Opal Otenburg, Aaron Pelly, Kelsey Peta, Alan Roebuck, Joshua M. Torgeson, and Jianqiu Zheng. This work was supported by the River Corridor Science Focus Area (RC-SFA) at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The RC-SFA is supported by the United States Department of Energy, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER), Environmental Systems Science (ESS) Program. PNNL is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute for the United States Department of Energy under contract no. DE-AC05-76RL01830.
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Garayburu-Caruso, V.A., Kaufman, M., Forbes, B. et al. Sediment‑associated processes dominate spatial variation in stream ecosystem respiration.
Commun Earth Environ (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03613-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03613-w
Source: Ecology - nature.com
