Coastal mountain rivers export disproportionately high quantities of terrestrial organic carbon (OC) directly to the ocean, feeding microbial communities and altering coastal ecology. To better predict and mitigate the effects of wildfires on aquatic ecosystems and resources, we must evaluate the relationships between fire, hydrology, and carbon export, particularly in the fire-prone western United States. This study examined the spatiotemporal export of particulate and dissolved OC (POC and DOC, respectively) and particulate and dissolved black carbon (PBC and DBC, respectively) from five coastal mountain watersheds following the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fires (California, USA). Despite high variability in watershed burn extent (20–98%), annual POC, DOC, PBC, and DBC concentrations remained relatively stable among the different watersheds. Instead, they correlated significantly with watershed discharge. Our findings indicate that hydrology, rather than burn extent, is a primary driver of post-fire carbon export in coastal mountain watersheds.

中文翻译：

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水文学，而不是野火燃烧程度，决定了加州中部沿海山区河流火后有机碳和黑碳的输出

沿海山区河流直接向海洋输出大量陆地有机碳（OC），为微生物群落提供食物并改变沿海生态。为了更好地预测和减轻野火对水生生态系统和资源的影响，我们必须评估火灾、水文和碳输出之间的关系，特别是在火灾多发的美国西部。本研究调查了 2020 年 CZU 闪电综合火灾（美国加利福尼亚州）后五个沿海山区流域的颗粒物和溶解 OC（分别为 POC 和 DOC）以及颗粒物和溶解黑碳（分别为 PBC 和 DBC）的时空输出。尽管流域烧伤程度存在很大差异（20-98%），但不同流域的年度 POC、DOC、PBC 和 DBC 浓度仍然相对稳定。相反，它们与流域流量显着相关。我们的研究结果表明，水文而不是燃烧程度是沿海山区流域火灾后碳输出的主要驱动力。