No indications for a priming effect on soil organic carbon mineralization in a temperate river system

Globally, rivers are vital conduits transporting and processing terrestrial carbon, and are generally considered to act as source of carbon dioxide (CO2) towards the atmosphere. A large amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) is transferred from the land surface to river systems each year, where it mixes and interacts with the autochthonous carbon pool (i.e., produced in-stream via photosynthesis). The latter has been suggested to be more labile and to potentially affect—positively or negatively—the