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Organizational Principles of Hyporheic Exchange Flow and Biogeochemical Cycling in River Networks Across Scales

Krause, Stefan; Abbott, Benjamin W.; Baranov, Viktor; Bernal, Susana; Blaen, Phillip; Datry, Thibault; Drummond, Jennifer; Fleckenstein, Jan H.; Velez, Jesus Gomez; Hannah, David M.; Knapp, Julia L.A.; Kurz, Marie; Lewandowski, Jörg; Martí, Eugènia; Mendoza‐Lera, Clara; Milner, Alexander; Packman, Aaron; Pinay, Gilles; Ward, Adam S.; Zarnetzke, Jay P.

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Authors

Stefan Krause

Benjamin W. Abbott

Viktor Baranov

Susana Bernal

Phillip Blaen

Thibault Datry

Jennifer Drummond

Jan H. Fleckenstein

Jesus Gomez Velez

David M. Hannah

Marie Kurz

Jörg Lewandowski

Eugènia Martí

Clara Mendoza‐Lera

Alexander Milner

Aaron Packman

Gilles Pinay

Adam S. Ward

Jay P. Zarnetzke



Abstract

Hyporheic zones increase freshwater ecosystem resilience to hydrological extremes and global environmental change. However, current conceptualizations of hyporheic exchange, residence time distributions, and the associated biogeochemical cycling in streambed sediments do not always accurately explain the hydrological and biogeochemical complexity observed in streams and rivers. Specifically, existing conceptual models insufficiently represent the coupled transport and reactivity along groundwater and surface water flow paths, the role of autochthonous organic matter in streambed biogeochemical functioning, and the feedbacks between surface-subsurface ecological processes, both within and across spatial and temporal scales. While simplified approaches to these issues are justifiable and necessary for transferability, the exclusion of important hyporheic processes from our conceptualizations can lead to erroneous conclusions and inadequate understanding and management of interconnected surface water and groundwater environments. This is particularly true at the landscape scale, where the organizational principles of spatio-temporal dynamics of hyporheic exchange flow (HEF) and biogeochemical processes remain largely uncharacterized. This article seeks to identify the most important drivers and controls of HEF and biogeochemical cycling based on a comprehensive synthesis of findings from a wide range of river systems. We use these observations to test current paradigms and conceptual models, discussing the interactions of local-to-regional hydrological, geomorphological, and ecological controls of hyporheic zone functioning. This improved conceptualization of the landscape organizational principles of drivers of HEF and biogeochemical processes from reach to catchment scales will inform future river research directions and watershed management strategies.

Citation

Krause, S., Abbott, B. W., Baranov, V., Bernal, S., Blaen, P., Datry, T., …Zarnetzke, J. P. (2022). Organizational Principles of Hyporheic Exchange Flow and Biogeochemical Cycling in River Networks Across Scales. Water Resources Research, 58(3), Article e2021WR029771. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021wr029771

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 22, 2021
Online Publication Date Feb 11, 2022
Publication Date 2022-03
Deposit Date Aug 18, 2022
Publicly Available Date Aug 18, 2022
Journal Water Resources Research
Print ISSN 0043-1397
Electronic ISSN 1944-7973
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 58
Issue 3
Article Number e2021WR029771
DOI https://doi.org/10.1029/2021wr029771

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
© 2022. The Authors.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.




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