Assessment of dissolved organic carbon and iron effects on water color between a forest and pasture-dominated fine-scale catchment in a Central Appalachian region, West Virginia

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and iron (Fe) have been observed to be the important contributors to surface water brownification. Additionally, the DOC quality influences water color by forming Fe-DOC complexes that provide additive effects and is influenced by dominant land use type within watersheds. However, the influence of quantity and quality of DOC on Fe and water color is poorly understood in headwater streams. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of DOC and Fe on water color in forest (FC) and pasture (GFC) fine-scale watersheds to remove the confounding effects of climate and soil parent material. Significant differences of DOC, Fe, and water absorbance at 420 nm (a 420 ) between FC and GFC were found ( p < 0.05). A dominant contribution to water color was from DOC (95.5 − 63.7%) with a decreasing trend when Fe increased from 0.011 to 0.258 mg L −1 . There were no significant interactions between FC and GFC and Fe on either a 420 /DOC ( p = 0.06) or specific ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (SUVA 254 ) ( p = 0.30). Increasing values of a 420 /DOC and SUVA 254 were significantly associated with increasing Fe concentration ( p < 0.01). Significant interactions were found between FC and GFC and Fe on spectral slope ratio (S ratio) ( p < 0.01). The response rate of S ratio with increasing Fe per unit was 0.235 for GFC while it was − 11.043 for FC. These differences indicate that land use may change the quality of DOC, influence Fe-DOC interactions, and thus affect water color. Linking the effects of soil Fe and DOC and headwater Fe and DOC may help identify optimal management practice to mitigate surface water brownification.