The Importance of Ditches and Canals in Global Inland Water <scp>CO<sub>2</sub></scp> and <scp>N<sub>2</sub>O</scp> Budgets

Ditches and canals are omitted from global budgets of inland water emissions, despite research showing them to be emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Here, we synthesize data across climate zones and land use types to show, for the first time, that global ditches emit notable amounts of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) and nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O). Ditches had higher per-area emissions of CO<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O than ponds, lakes, and reservoirs, likely due to high nutrient inputs. Preliminary upscaling showed that the inclusion of ditches would increase global inland water CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by 0.6%-1% and N<sub>2</sub>O emissions by 3%-9%. Trophic state and climate influenced N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, while CO<sub>2</sub> emissions had complex drivers difficult to disentangle at the global scale. This research highlights the importance of including ditches in global inland water GHG budgets and informs more accurate reporting of anthropogenic emissions in national inventories.

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Publication Details

Journal
Global Change Biology
Published
2025-03-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70079
Citations
16
Primary Topic
Marine and coastal ecosystems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
28.70

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article

The Importance of Ditches and Canals in Global Inland Water CO2 and N2O Budgets

Sarian Kosten, Wenxin Wu, Jackie R. Webb, Mike Peacock et al.
16 citations
Global Change Biology
Marine and coastal ecosystems
28.70
article

The Importance of Ditches and Canals in Global Inland Water CO2 and N2O Budgets

Sarian Kosten, Wenxin Wu, Jackie R. Webb, Mike Peacock, Teresa Silverthorn, Quinten Struik, Chris Evans, José R. Paranaíba, Joachim Audet, Judith van der Knaap, Zhifeng Yan
article en
16 citations

Abstract

Ditches and canals are omitted from global budgets of inland water emissions, despite research showing them to be emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Here, we synthesize data across climate zones and land use types to show, for the first time, that global ditches emit notable amounts of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) and nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O). Ditches had higher per-area emissions of CO<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O than ponds, lakes, and reservoirs, likely due to high nutrient inputs. Preliminary upscaling showed that the inclusion of ditches would increase global inland water CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by 0.6%-1% and N<sub>2</sub>O emissions by 3%-9%. Trophic state and climate influenced N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, while CO<sub>2</sub> emissions had complex drivers difficult to disentangle at the global scale. This research highlights the importance of including ditches in global inland water GHG budgets and informs more accurate reporting of anthropogenic emissions in national inventories.

Global Change BiologyVol. 31(3)
Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), University of Liverpool (GB), University of Waterloo (CA), Tianjin University (CN), University of Southern Queensland (AU), Aarhus University (DK), Radboud University Medical Center (NL), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (GB), Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (NL)
Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas, Norges Forskningsråd, Research England
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Marine and coastal ecosystems
28.70
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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