Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from terrestrial sources have been increasing in freshwaters across large parts of the boreal region. According to results from large-scale field and detailed laboratory studies, such a DOC increase could potentially stimulate carbon dioxide (CO2) production, subsequently increasing the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in freshwaters. However, the response of pCO2 to the presently observed long-term increase in DOC in freshwaters is still unknown. Here we tested whether the commonly found spatial DOC-pCO2 relationship is also valid on a temporal scale. Analyzing time series of water chemical data from 71 lakes, 30 streams, and 4 river mouths distributed across all of Sweden over a 17 year period, we observed significant DOC concentration increases in 39 lakes, 15 streams, and 4 river mouths. Significant pCO2 increases were, however, only observed in six of these 58 waters, indicating that long-term DOC increases in Swedish waters are disconnected from temporal pCO2 trends. We suggest that the uncoupling of trends in DOC concentration and pCO2 are a result of increased surface water runoff. When surface water runoff increases, there is likely less CO2 relative to DOC imported from soils into waters due to a changed balance between surface and groundwater flow. Additionally, increased surface water runoff causes faster water flushing through the landscape giving less time for in situ CO2 production in freshwaters. We conclude that pCO2 is presently not following DOC concentration trends, which has important implications for modeling future CO2 emissions from boreal waters.

Many surface waters across the boreal region are browning due to increased concentrations of colored allochthonous dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Browning may stimulate heterotrophic metabolism, may have a shading effect constraining primary production, and may acidify the water leading to decreased pH with a subsequent shift in the carbonate system. All these effects are expected to result in increased lake water carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations. We tested here these expectations by assessing the effects of both altered allochthonous DOC input and light conditions through shading on lake water CO₂ concentrations. We used two mesocosm experiments with water from the meso‐eutrophic Lake Erken, Sweden, to determine the relative importance of bacterial activities, primary production, and shifts in the carbonate system on CO₂ concentrations. We found that DOC addition and shading resulted in a significant increase in partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂) in all mesocosms. Surprisingly, there was no relationship between bacterial activities and pCO₂. Instead the experimental reduction of light by DOC and/or shading decreased the photosynthesis to respiration ratio leading to increased pCO₂. Another driving force behind the observed pCO₂ increase was a significant decrease in pH, caused by a decline in photosynthesis and the input of acidic DOC. Considering that colored allochthonous DOC may increase in a warmer and wetter climate, our results could also apply for whole lake ecosystems and pCO₂ may increase in many lakes through a reduction in the rate of photosynthesis and decreased pH.

Groundwater is an essential resource providing water for societies and sustaining surface waters. Although groundwater at intermediate depth could be highly influential at regulating lake and river surface water chemistry, studies quantifying organic and inorganic carbon (C) species in intermediate depth groundwater are still rare. Here, we quantified dissolved and gaseous C species in the groundwater of a boreal catchment at 3- to 20-m depth. We found that the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO(2)), the stable carbon isotopic composition of dissolved inorganic carbon (delta C-13-DIC), and pH showed a dependency with depth. Along the depth profile, a negative relationship was observed between pCO(2) and delta C-13-DIC and between pCO(2) and pH. We attribute the negative pCO(2)-pH relationship along the depth gradient to increased silicate weathering and decreased soil respiration. Silicate weathering consumes carbon dioxide (CO2) and release base cations, leading to increased pH and decreased pCO(2). We observed a positive relationship between delta C-13-DIC and depth, potentially due to diffusion-related fractionation in addition to isotopic discrimination during soil respiration. Soil CO2 may diffuse downward, resulting in a fractionation of the delta C-13-DIC. Additionally, the dissolved organic carbon at greater depth may be recalcitrant consisting of old degraded material with a greater fraction of the heavier C isotope. Our study provides increased knowledge about the C biogeochemistry of groundwater at intermediate depth, which is important since these waters likely contribute to the widespread CO2 oversaturation in boreal surface waters.

Understanding the mechanisms driving carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in inland waters is important to foresee CO(2)responses to environmental change, yet knowledge gaps persist regarding which processes are the key drivers. Here we investigated possible drivers across 13 Swedish lakes and streams where the partial pressure of CO2(pCO(2)) has increased over a 21-year period. Overall, we could not identify a single dominating mechanism responsible for the observedpCO(2)increase. In the 8 lakes, we found thatpCO(2)increased, driven either by a possible dissolved organic carbon (DOC) stimulation of microbial mineralization or by water color primary production suppression. In streams, the dominating mechanism for apCO(2)increase was either a change in the carbonate system distribution or a possible nutrient-driven decrease in primary production. This is the first study to demonstrate and explain consistent positivepCO(2)temporal trends in freshwater ecosystems, and our results should be taken into account when predicting future emission of CO(2)from inland waters.