Hydroclimate and landscape diversity drive highly variable greenhouse gas emissions from tropical and subtropical inland waters

(Sub)tropical inland waters are important greenhouse gas (GHG) sources, yet limited observations have long hindered broad analyses of GHG variability across this diverse region. Here, through a meta-analysis, we have examined the rates and drivers of GHG emissions from flowing and standing (sub)tropical inland waters. We find considerable spatial variation in fluxes, largely related to differences in hydroclimate, geomorphology, land cover and human disturbance. Flowing waters emit more carbon dioxide (3,387 2,121 5,702 TgCO2 yr−1, expressing median first quartile third quartile ), methane (10.6 0.1 28.8 TgCH4 yr−1) and nitrous oxide (0.62 0.35 1.10 TgN2O yr−1) than standing waters (114 73 219 TgCO2 yr−1, 5.4 2.1 9.1 TgCH4 yr−1 and 0.03 0.02 0.05 TgN2O yr−1, respectively). (Sub)tropical inland waters release 4,238 2473 7375 TgCO2-equivalents annually, with first- to third-order streams contributing 75% of riverine emissions and lakes larger than 100 km2 contributing 59% of standing water emissions. Our results suggest emissions from (sub)tropical waters are 29–72% lower than earlier estimates, a downward revision with important implications for global GHG budgets. This meta-analysis assesses the rates and drivers of greenhouse gas emissions from flowing and standing (sub)tropical inland waters, finding that emissions are lower than previous estimates. Considerable spatial variation in fluxes arises mainly from differences in hydroclimate, geomorphology, land cover and human disturbance.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Water
Published
2025-10-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-025-00522-8
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Marine and coastal ecosystems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.38
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article

Hydroclimate and landscape diversity drive highly variable greenhouse gas emissions from tropical and subtropical inland waters

Elisa Calamita, Pierre Taillardat, Gerard Rocher‐Ros, C. López-Lloreda et al.
3 citations
Nature Water
Marine and coastal ecosystems
5.38
article

Hydroclimate and landscape diversity drive highly variable greenhouse gas emissions from tropical and subtropical inland waters

Elisa Calamita, Pierre Taillardat, Gerard Rocher‐Ros, C. López-Lloreda, Loris Deirmendjian, Lishan Ran, Shaoda Liu, Diego Riveros‐Iregui, Alberto Vieira Borges, Judith Andrea Rosentreter, Vanessa Solano, Ricky Mwangada Mwanake, Charlotte Grasset, Luke C. Jeffrey, Francesco Ulloa-Cedamanos, Keridwen M. Whitmore, José R. Paranaíba, Annika Linkhorst, Tonya DelSontro, Diana Oviedo‐Vargas, Nicholas S. Marzolf, Márcia N. Macedo, Clément Duvert, Allison M. Herreid, Lediane Marcon, Liwei Zhang, Jilong Wang, A. F. G. Dixon, Katrin Attermeyer, Adam T. Rexroade
article en
3 citations

Abstract

(Sub)tropical inland waters are important greenhouse gas (GHG) sources, yet limited observations have long hindered broad analyses of GHG variability across this diverse region. Here, through a meta-analysis, we have examined the rates and drivers of GHG emissions from flowing and standing (sub)tropical inland waters. We find considerable spatial variation in fluxes, largely related to differences in hydroclimate, geomorphology, land cover and human disturbance. Flowing waters emit more carbon dioxide (3,387 2,121 5,702 TgCO2 yr−1, expressing median first quartile third quartile ), methane (10.6 0.1 28.8 TgCH4 yr−1) and nitrous oxide (0.62 0.35 1.10 TgN2O yr−1) than standing waters (114 73 219 TgCO2 yr−1, 5.4 2.1 9.1 TgCH4 yr−1 and 0.03 0.02 0.05 TgN2O yr−1, respectively). (Sub)tropical inland waters release 4,238 2473 7375 TgCO2-equivalents annually, with first- to third-order streams contributing 75% of riverine emissions and lakes larger than 100 km2 contributing 59% of standing water emissions. Our results suggest emissions from (sub)tropical waters are 29–72% lower than earlier estimates, a downward revision with important implications for global GHG budgets. This meta-analysis assesses the rates and drivers of greenhouse gas emissions from flowing and standing (sub)tropical inland waters, finding that emissions are lower than previous estimates. Considerable spatial variation in fluxes arises mainly from differences in hydroclimate, geomorphology, land cover and human disturbance.

Nature WaterVol. 3(11)
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US), Uppsala University (SE), University of Vienna (AT), Woodwell Climate Research Center (US), United States Department of Agriculture (US), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR), Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), University of Waterloo (CA), University of Liège (BE), Université du Québec à Montréal (CA), University of New Hampshire (US), Tianjin University (CN), Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE), Nanyang Technological University (SG), Beijing Normal University (CN), University of Koblenz and Landau (DE), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), Charles Darwin University (AU), Amazon Research Foundation (BR), Wasser Cluster Lunz (AT), Stroud Water Research Center (US), The Jones Center at Ichauway (US), Federal Institute of Hydrology (DE), Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (US), Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (FR), Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (CH), Southern Cross University (AU), East China Normal University (CN), University of Tübingen (DE), Virginia Tech (US), James Cook University (AU), University of Hong Kong (HK), Umeå University (SE)
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Marine and coastal ecosystems
5.38
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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