Linking Hydrology and Dissolved Organic Matter Characteristics in a Subtropical Wetland: A Long‐Term Study of the Florida Everglades

Abstract Dissolved organic matter (DOM) acts as an important biogeochemical component of aquatic ecosystems that controls nutrient cycling, influences water quality, and links terrestrial and oceanic carbon pools, yet long‐term studies of how changing environmental drivers alter its abundance and composition are rare. Using a 10‐year, spatially explicit data set from Everglades National Park, a globally significant wetland, we investigated the relationships between DOM quality/quantity and hydrologic/climatic drivers along two contrasting marsh‐estuarine transects based on generalized linear modeling and a cumulative sums analysis. Analyses revealed distinct spatial, seasonal, and interannual patterns in variability of DOC and optical properties. Landscape‐scale seasonal patterns showed an enrichment in microbial‐like and protein‐like DOM during the dry season relative to the wet season. While some compositional constituents varied with the solar calendar, responsive to temperature and photoperiod, others varied with the hydrologic calendar. Independent water level and discharge effects indicated strong hydrologic control on DOM quality that differed between the two transects, evidencing differences in their connectivity to areas of high agricultural activity. Across all sites, a significant long‐term increasing trend in the fluorescence index was observed, associated with a positive correlation with precipitation and also potential changes in agricultural inputs, with other features associated with drought and hurricanes. Lastly, the cumulative sums analysis revealed differences between the two transects in the sensitivity of DOM composition to decreased water levels associated with 30‐year climate scenarios, with the less hydrologically dynamic transect exhibiting greater potential sensitivity.