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Title: Diel, seasonal, and inter-annual variation in carbon dioxide effluxes from lakes and reservoirs

Journal Article · · Environmental Research Letters
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Abstract Accounting for temporal changes in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) effluxes from freshwaters remains a challenge for global and regional carbon budgets. Here, we synthesize 171 site-months of flux measurements of CO 2 based on the eddy covariance method from 13 lakes and reservoirs in the Northern Hemisphere, and quantify dynamics at multiple temporal scales. We found pronounced sub-annual variability in CO 2 flux at all sites. By accounting for diel variation, only 11% of site-months were net daily sinks of CO 2 . Annual CO 2 emissions had an average of 25% (range 3%–58%) interannual variation. Similar to studies on streams, nighttime emissions regularly exceeded daytime emissions. Biophysical regulations of CO 2 flux variability were delineated through mutual information analysis. Sample analysis of CO 2 fluxes indicate the importance of continuous measurements. Better characterization of short- and long-term variability is necessary to understand and improve detection of temporal changes of CO 2 fluxes in response to natural and anthropogenic drivers. Our results indicate that existing global lake carbon budgets relying primarily on daytime measurements yield underestimates of net emissions.

Research Organization:
Kent State Univ., Kent, OH (United States); The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres; Swedish Research Council; USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0021067; SC0022191
OSTI ID:
1960660
Journal Information:
Environmental Research Letters, Journal Name: Environmental Research Letters Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 18; ISSN 1748-9326
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English

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