A global analysis of terrestrial plant litter dynamics in non-perennial waterways
Authors/Creators
- Thibault Datry
- Arnaud Foulquier
- Roland Corti
- Daniel Von Schiller
- Klement Tockner
- Clara Mendoza-Lera
- Mark O. Gessner
- Marcos Moleón
- Rachel Stubbington
- Björn Gücker
- R. Albarinõ
- Daniel C. Allen
- Florian Altermatt
- María I. Arce
- Shai Arnon
- D. Banas
- A. Banegas-Medina
- Erin E. Beller
- Melanie L. Blanchette
- Juan Felipe Blanco-Libreros
- J. J. Blessing
- Iola G. Boëchat
- Kate S. Boersma
- Michael T. Bogan
- Núria Bonada
- Nick R. Bond
- K. C. Brintrup Barriá
- Andreas Bruder
- R. M. Burrows
- Tommaso Cancellario
- Cristin M. Canhoto
- Stephanie M. Carlson
- Sophie Cauvy-Fraunié
- Núria Cid
- Michaël Danger
- Bianca De Freitas Terra
- Anna M. De Girolamo
- Evans De La Barra
- R. Del Campo
- Verónica D. Díaz-Villanueva
- Fiona J. Dyer
- Arturo Elosegi
- E. Faye
- Catherine M. Febria
- Brian Four
- Sarig Gafny
- Sudeep D. Ghate
- R. Gómez
- Lluís Gómez-Gener
- Manuel A. Graça, Edith Cowan University
- Simone Guareschi
- Felicitas Hoppeler
- Jason L. Hwan
- J. I. Jones
- S. Kubheka
- Alex Laini
- Simone D. Langhans
- Catherine Leigh
- Chelsea J. Little
- Stefan Lorenz
- Jonathan C. Marshall
- Eduardo J. Martín
- Angus R. McIntosh
- Elisabeth I. Meyer
- Marko Miliša
- M. C. Mlambo
- Manuela Morais
- N. Moya
- Peter M. Negus
- D. K. Niyogi
- Athina Papatheodoulou
- Isabel Pardo
- Petr Pařil
- S. U. Pauls
- Vladimir M. Pešić
- Marek Polášek
- Christopher T. Robinson
- Pablo Rodríguez-Lozano
- Robert J. Rolls
- María M. Sánchez-Montoya
- Ana V. Savić
- O. Shumilova
- Kandikere R. Sridhar
- Alisha L. Steward
- Richard G. Storey
- Amina Taleb
- A. Uzan
- Ross Vander Vorste
- Nathan J. Waltham
- Cleo Woelfle-Erskine
- Dominik Zak
- Christiane Zarfl
- Annamaria Zoppini
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.
Keywords
waterway, river, stream, plant litter
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
2018
Location of the Work
United Kingdom
Publication Title
Nature Geoscience
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
School
School of Science / Mine Water and Environment Research Centre
RAS ID
27377
Copyright
subscription content
Comments
Datry, T., Foulquier, A., Corti, R., Schiller, D., Tockner, K., Mendoza-Lera, C., ... & Gücker, B. (2018). A global analysis of terrestrial plant litter dynamics in non-perennial waterways. Nature Geoscience, 11(7), 497-503. Available here.