A Global Analysis of Terrestrial Plant Litter Dynamics in Non-Perennial Waterways
Abstract
Perennial rivers and streams make a disproportionate contribution to global carbon (C) cycling. However, the contribution of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES), which sometimes cease to flow and can dry completely, is largely ignored although they represent over half the global river network. Substantial amounts of terrestrial plant litter (TPL) accumulate in dry riverbeds and, upon rewetting, this material can undergo rapid microbial processing. We present the results of a global research collaboration that collected and analysed TPL from 212 dry riverbeds across major environmental gradients and climate zones. We assessed litter decomposability by quantifying the litter carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and oxygen (O2) consumption in standardized assays and estimated the potential short-term CO2 emissions during rewetting events. Aridity, cover of riparian vegetation, channel width and dry-phase duration explained most variability in the quantity and decomposability of plant litter in IRES. Our estimates indicate that a single pulse of CO2 emission upon litter rewetting contributes up to 10% of the daily CO2 emission from perennial rivers and stream, particularly in temperate climates. This indicates that the contributions of IRES should be included in global C-cycling assessments.
Recommended Citation
T. Datry and D. Niyogi, "A Global Analysis of Terrestrial Plant Litter Dynamics in Non-Perennial Waterways," Nature Geoscience, vol. 11, no. 7, pp. 497 - 503, Nature Publishing Group, May 2018.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0134-4
Department(s)
Biological Sciences
Sponsor(s)
1000 Intermittent River Project
Keywords and Phrases
Carbon Cycle; Ecosystem Ecology; Hydrology
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1752-0894;1752-0908
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2018 Nature Publishing Group, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 May 2018
Comments
This study was made possible thanks to a large collective effort of a global research network entitled the "1000 Intermittent River Project" (1000IRP) that merges individual knowledge, forces and passion through simple, consistent and comparable joint field experiments worldwide.
This article is corrected by Correction: A Global Analysis of Terrestrial Plant Litter Dynamics in Non-Perennial Waterways .