| Flowing waters process globally
significant quantities of carbon through ecosystem metabolism, yet substantial variation in rates of stream metabolism limits the predictability of broad-scale carbon dynamics in streams. Urbanization differentially impacts ecosystem metabolism, further complicating our understanding of stream carbon emissions. We measured ecosystem metabolism and habitat characteristics of an urban stream and a contributing agricultural canal, and estimated high metabolic rates in the canal and low rates along the mainstem stream. Canal inputs stimulated respiration downstream while local physical characteristics were differentially related to metabolism among sites, suggesting that both patch dynamics and longitudinal connectivity structured network-scale metabolism. Future studies should consider the role of inputs from upstream, especially from non-mainstem flow paths, in structuring metabolism, which represent potential controls that are rarely measured. Additional assessments of stormwater salt, suspended sediment, and nutrient concentrations were conducted in partnership with the City of Pocatello and summarized within this thesis. |