Changes in mineralization rates of stable or persistent organic matter induced by inputs of labile organic matter can alter the organic carbon (C) balance along the terrestrial-aquatic ecosystem continuum. This phenomenon, also known as the priming effect, is well-established in terrestrial ecosystems, but has only recently been explored in the domain of aquatic ecology–with widely contrasting responses of stable carbon to the priming effect reported across the literature. Here, we compiled data from experimental studies on C mineralization in aquatic systems that directly or indirectly tested for the priming effect and used a meta-analytic approach to investigate the physical and chemical drivers behind the differing outcomes reported across studies. We found that the reported heterogeneity could be explained by two main factors: how the priming effect is measured and whether the study was performed in the laboratory or under field conditions. These findings suggest that how the priming effect is tested and measured has strong implications for its detection and magnitude.

中文翻译：

---

探索在水生系统中控制启动效应及其大小的驱动因素

由不稳定有机物质的输入引起的稳定或持久有机物质的矿化率的变化可以改变沿陆地 - 水生生态系统连续体的有机碳 (C) 平衡。这种现象，也称为启动效应，在陆地生态系统中已经确立，但直到最近才在水生生态学领域进行了探索——稳定碳对启动效应的反应在文献中报道的差异很大。在这里，我们收集了来自水生系统中 C 矿化实验研究的数据，这些研究直接或间接测试了启动效应，并使用元分析方法来研究不同研究报告的不同结果背后的物理和化学驱动因素。我们发现报告的异质性可以用两个主要因素来解释：如何测量启动效应以及研究是在实验室还是在现场条件下进行的。这些发现表明，如何测试和测量启动效应对其检测和大小具有重要意义。