Global carbon dioxide efflux from rivers enhanced by high nocturnal emissions

Lluís Gómez-Gener; Gerard Rocher-Ros; Tom Battin; Matthew J. Cohen; Higo J. Dalmagro; Kerry J. Dinsmore; Travis W. Drake; Clément Duvert; Alex Enrich-Prast; Åsa Horgby; Mark S. Johnson; Lily Kirk; Fausto Machado-Silva; Nicholas S. Marzolf; Mollie J. McDowell; William H. McDowell; Heli Miettinen; Anne K. Ojala; Hannes Peter; Jukka Pumpanen; Lishan Ran; Diego A. Riveros-Iregui; Isaac R. Santos; Johan Six; Emily H. Stanley; Marcus B. Wallin; Shane A. White; Ryan A. Sponseller

doi:10.1038/s41561-021-00722-3

Global carbon dioxide efflux from rivers enhanced by high nocturnal emissions

Lluís Gómez-Gener, Gerard Rocher-Ros, Tom Battin, Matthew J. Cohen, Higo J. Dalmagro, Kerry J. Dinsmore, Travis W. Drake, Clément Duvert, Alex Enrich-Prast, Åsa Horgby, Mark S. Johnson, Lily Kirk, Fausto Machado-Silva, Nicholas S. Marzolf, Mollie J. McDowell, William H. McDowell, Heli Miettinen, Anne K. Ojala, Hannes Peter, Jukka PumpanenLishan Ran, Diego A. Riveros-Iregui, Isaac R. Santos, Johan Six, Emily H. Stanley, Marcus B. Wallin, Shane A. White, Ryan A. Sponseller

Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

118 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions to the atmosphere from running waters are estimated to be four times greater than the total carbon (C) flux to the oceans. However, these fluxes remain poorly constrained because of substantial spatial and temporal variability in dissolved CO₂ concentrations. Using a global compilation of high-frequency CO₂ measurements, we demonstrate that nocturnal CO₂ emissions are on average 27% (0.9 gC m⁻² d⁻¹) greater than those estimated from diurnal concentrations alone. Constraints on light availability due to canopy shading or water colour are the principal controls on observed diel (24 hour) variation, suggesting this nocturnal increase arises from daytime fixation of CO₂ by photosynthesis. Because current global estimates of CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere from running waters (0.65–1.8 PgC yr⁻¹) rely primarily on discrete measurements of dissolved CO₂ obtained during the day, they substantially underestimate the magnitude of this flux. Accounting for night-time CO₂ emissions may elevate global estimates from running waters to the atmosphere by 0.20–0.55 PgC yr⁻¹.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	289-294
Number of pages	13
Journal	Nature Geoscience
Volume	14
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00722-3
Publication status	Published - May 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank S. Blackburn, J. Crawford, the Krycklan Catchment study and the Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Science for sharing data used in this study. This study was largely supported by a Formas grant to R.A.S. Datasets provided by the StreamPULSE Network were funded by the National Science Foundation Macrosystems program (NSF Grant EF-1442439). D.A.R.-I. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (Grant EAR-1847331).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

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Gómez-Gener, L., Rocher-Ros, G., Battin, T., Cohen, M. J., Dalmagro, H. J., Dinsmore, K. J., Drake, T. W., Duvert, C., Enrich-Prast, A., Horgby, Å., Johnson, M. S., Kirk, L., Machado-Silva, F., Marzolf, N. S., McDowell, M. J., McDowell, W. H., Miettinen, H., Ojala, A. K., Peter, H., ... Sponseller, R. A. (2021). Global carbon dioxide efflux from rivers enhanced by high nocturnal emissions. Nature Geoscience, 14, 289-294. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00722-3

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title = "Global carbon dioxide efflux from rivers enhanced by high nocturnal emissions",

abstract = "Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the atmosphere from running waters are estimated to be four times greater than the total carbon (C) flux to the oceans. However, these fluxes remain poorly constrained because of substantial spatial and temporal variability in dissolved CO2 concentrations. Using a global compilation of high-frequency CO2 measurements, we demonstrate that nocturnal CO2 emissions are on average 27% (0.9 gC m−2 d−1) greater than those estimated from diurnal concentrations alone. Constraints on light availability due to canopy shading or water colour are the principal controls on observed diel (24 hour) variation, suggesting this nocturnal increase arises from daytime fixation of CO2 by photosynthesis. Because current global estimates of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere from running waters (0.65–1.8 PgC yr−1) rely primarily on discrete measurements of dissolved CO2 obtained during the day, they substantially underestimate the magnitude of this flux. Accounting for night-time CO2 emissions may elevate global estimates from running waters to the atmosphere by 0.20–0.55 PgC yr−1.",

author = "Llu{\'i}s G{\'o}mez-Gener and Gerard Rocher-Ros and Tom Battin and Cohen, {Matthew J.} and Dalmagro, {Higo J.} and Dinsmore, {Kerry J.} and Drake, {Travis W.} and Cl{\'e}ment Duvert and Alex Enrich-Prast and {\AA}sa Horgby and Johnson, {Mark S.} and Lily Kirk and Fausto Machado-Silva and Marzolf, {Nicholas S.} and McDowell, {Mollie J.} and McDowell, {William H.} and Heli Miettinen and Ojala, {Anne K.} and Hannes Peter and Jukka Pumpanen and Lishan Ran and Riveros-Iregui, {Diego A.} and Santos, {Isaac R.} and Johan Six and Stanley, {Emily H.} and Wallin, {Marcus B.} and White, {Shane A.} and Sponseller, {Ryan A.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank S. Blackburn, J. Crawford, the Krycklan Catchment study and the Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Science for sharing data used in this study. This study was largely supported by a Formas grant to R.A.S. Datasets provided by the StreamPULSE Network were funded by the National Science Foundation Macrosystems program (NSF Grant EF-1442439). D.A.R.-I. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (Grant EAR-1847331). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = may,

doi = "10.1038/s41561-021-00722-3",

language = "English",

volume = "14",

pages = "289--294",

journal = "Nature Geoscience",

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Gómez-Gener, L, Rocher-Ros, G, Battin, T, Cohen, MJ, Dalmagro, HJ, Dinsmore, KJ, Drake, TW, Duvert, C, Enrich-Prast, A, Horgby, Å, Johnson, MS, Kirk, L, Machado-Silva, F, Marzolf, NS, McDowell, MJ, McDowell, WH, Miettinen, H, Ojala, AK, Peter, H, Pumpanen, J, Ran, L, Riveros-Iregui, DA, Santos, IR, Six, J, Stanley, EH, Wallin, MB, White, SA & Sponseller, RA 2021, 'Global carbon dioxide efflux from rivers enhanced by high nocturnal emissions', Nature Geoscience, vol. 14, pp. 289-294. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00722-3

TY - JOUR

T1 - Global carbon dioxide efflux from rivers enhanced by high nocturnal emissions

AU - Gómez-Gener, Lluís

AU - Rocher-Ros, Gerard

AU - Battin, Tom

AU - Cohen, Matthew J.

AU - Dalmagro, Higo J.

AU - Dinsmore, Kerry J.

AU - Drake, Travis W.

AU - Duvert, Clément

AU - Enrich-Prast, Alex

AU - Horgby, Åsa

AU - Johnson, Mark S.

AU - Kirk, Lily

AU - Machado-Silva, Fausto

AU - Marzolf, Nicholas S.

AU - McDowell, Mollie J.

AU - McDowell, William H.

AU - Miettinen, Heli

AU - Ojala, Anne K.

AU - Peter, Hannes

AU - Pumpanen, Jukka

AU - Ran, Lishan

AU - Riveros-Iregui, Diego A.

AU - Santos, Isaac R.

AU - Six, Johan

AU - Stanley, Emily H.

AU - Wallin, Marcus B.

AU - White, Shane A.

AU - Sponseller, Ryan A.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank S. Blackburn, J. Crawford, the Krycklan Catchment study and the Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Science for sharing data used in this study. This study was largely supported by a Formas grant to R.A.S. Datasets provided by the StreamPULSE Network were funded by the National Science Foundation Macrosystems program (NSF Grant EF-1442439). D.A.R.-I. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (Grant EAR-1847331). Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/5

Y1 - 2021/5

N2 - Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the atmosphere from running waters are estimated to be four times greater than the total carbon (C) flux to the oceans. However, these fluxes remain poorly constrained because of substantial spatial and temporal variability in dissolved CO2 concentrations. Using a global compilation of high-frequency CO2 measurements, we demonstrate that nocturnal CO2 emissions are on average 27% (0.9 gC m−2 d−1) greater than those estimated from diurnal concentrations alone. Constraints on light availability due to canopy shading or water colour are the principal controls on observed diel (24 hour) variation, suggesting this nocturnal increase arises from daytime fixation of CO2 by photosynthesis. Because current global estimates of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere from running waters (0.65–1.8 PgC yr−1) rely primarily on discrete measurements of dissolved CO2 obtained during the day, they substantially underestimate the magnitude of this flux. Accounting for night-time CO2 emissions may elevate global estimates from running waters to the atmosphere by 0.20–0.55 PgC yr−1.

AB - Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the atmosphere from running waters are estimated to be four times greater than the total carbon (C) flux to the oceans. However, these fluxes remain poorly constrained because of substantial spatial and temporal variability in dissolved CO2 concentrations. Using a global compilation of high-frequency CO2 measurements, we demonstrate that nocturnal CO2 emissions are on average 27% (0.9 gC m−2 d−1) greater than those estimated from diurnal concentrations alone. Constraints on light availability due to canopy shading or water colour are the principal controls on observed diel (24 hour) variation, suggesting this nocturnal increase arises from daytime fixation of CO2 by photosynthesis. Because current global estimates of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere from running waters (0.65–1.8 PgC yr−1) rely primarily on discrete measurements of dissolved CO2 obtained during the day, they substantially underestimate the magnitude of this flux. Accounting for night-time CO2 emissions may elevate global estimates from running waters to the atmosphere by 0.20–0.55 PgC yr−1.

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DO - 10.1038/s41561-021-00722-3

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AN - SCOPUS:85104783751

SN - 1752-0894

VL - 14

SP - 289

EP - 294

JO - Nature Geoscience

JF - Nature Geoscience

ER -

Global carbon dioxide efflux from rivers enhanced by high nocturnal emissions

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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