A global analysis of terrestrial plant litter dynamics in non-perennial waterways

Datry, T., Foulquier, A., Corti, R., Von Schiller, D., Tockner, K., Mendoza-Lera, C., Clément, J.C., Gessner, M.O., Moleón, M., Stubbington, R. ORCID: 0000-0001-8475-5109, Gücker, B., Albariño, R., Allen, D.C., Altermatt, F., Arce, M.I., Arnon, S., Banas, D., Banegas-Medina, A., Beller, E., Blanchette, M.L., Blanco-Libreros, J.F., Blessing, J.J., Boëchat, I.G., Boersma, K.S., Bogan, M.T., Bonada, N., Bond, N.R., Brintrup Barría, K.C., Bruder, A., Burrows, R.M., Cancellario, T., Canhoto, C., Carlson, S.M., Cauvy-Fraunié, S., Cid, N., Danger, M., de Freitas Terra, B., De Girolamo, A.M., de La Barra, E., del Campo, R., Diaz-Villanueva, V.D., Dyer, F., Elosegi, A., Faye, E., Febria, C., Four, B., Gafny, S., Ghate, S.D., Gomez, R., Gómez-Gener, L., Graça, M.A.S., Guareschi, S., Hoppeler, F., Hwan, J.L., Jones, J.I., Kubheka, S., Laini, A., Langhans, S.D., Leigh, C., Little, C.J., Lorenz, S., Marshall, J.C., Martín, E., McIntosh, A.R., Meyer, E.I., Miliša, M., Mlambo, M.C., Morais, M., Moya, N., Negus, P.M., Niyogi, D.K., Papatheodoulou, A., Pardo, I., Pařil, P., Pauls, S.U., Pešić, V., Polášek, M., Robinson, C.T., Rodríguez-Lozano, P., Rolls, R.J., Sánchez-Montoya, M.M., Savić, A., Shumilova, O., Sridhar, K.R., Steward, A.L., Storey, R., Taleb, A., Uzan, A., Vander Vorste, R., Waltham, N.J., Woelfle-Erskine, C., Zak, D., Zarfl, C. and Zoppini, A., 2018. A global analysis of terrestrial plant litter dynamics in non-perennial waterways. Nature Geoscience, 11, pp. 497-503. ISSN 1752-0894

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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.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Nature Geoscience
Creators:	Datry, T., Foulquier, A., Corti, R., Von Schiller, D., Tockner, K., Mendoza-Lera, C., Clément, J.C., Gessner, M.O., Moleón, M., Stubbington, R., Gücker, B., Albariño, R., Allen, D.C., Altermatt, F., Arce, M.I., Arnon, S., Banas, D., Banegas-Medina, A., Beller, E., Blanchette, M.L., Blanco-Libreros, J.F., Blessing, J.J., Boëchat, I.G., Boersma, K.S., Bogan, M.T., Bonada, N., Bond, N.R., Brintrup Barría, K.C., Bruder, A., Burrows, R.M., Cancellario, T., Canhoto, C., Carlson, S.M., Cauvy-Fraunié, S., Cid, N., Danger, M., de Freitas Terra, B., De Girolamo, A.M., de La Barra, E., del Campo, R., Diaz-Villanueva, V.D., Dyer, F., Elosegi, A., Faye, E., Febria, C., Four, B., Gafny, S., Ghate, S.D., Gomez, R., Gómez-Gener, L., Graça, M.A.S., Guareschi, S., Hoppeler, F., Hwan, J.L., Jones, J.I., Kubheka, S., Laini, A., Langhans, S.D., Leigh, C., Little, C.J., Lorenz, S., Marshall, J.C., Martín, E., McIntosh, A.R., Meyer, E.I., Miliša, M., Mlambo, M.C., Morais, M., Moya, N., Negus, P.M., Niyogi, D.K., Papatheodoulou, A., Pardo, I., Pařil, P., Pauls, S.U., Pešić, V., Polášek, M., Robinson, C.T., Rodríguez-Lozano, P., Rolls, R.J., Sánchez-Montoya, M.M., Savić, A., Shumilova, O., Sridhar, K.R., Steward, A.L., Storey, R., Taleb, A., Uzan, A., Vander Vorste, R., Waltham, N.J., Woelfle-Erskine, C., Zak, D., Zarfl, C. and Zoppini, A.
Publisher:	Springer Nature
Date:	21 May 2018
Volume:	11
ISSN:	1752-0894
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1038/s41561-018-0134-4 DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jill Tomkinson
Date Added:	04 Jul 2018 12:54
Last Modified:	21 Nov 2018 03:00
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/34001

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