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Abstract Accounting for temporal changes in carbon dioxide (CO2) effluxes from freshwaters remains a challenge for global and regional carbon budgets. Here, we synthesize 171 site-months of flux measurements of CO2based 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 CO2flux at all sites. By accounting for diel variation, only 11% of site-months were net daily sinks of CO2. Annual CO2emissions had an average of 25% (range 3%–58%) interannual variation. Similar to studies on streams, nighttime emissions regularly exceeded daytime emissions. Biophysical regulations of CO2flux variability were delineated through mutual information analysis. Sample analysis of CO2fluxes 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 CO2fluxes 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.
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Cross‐Scale Interactions Dictate Regional Lake Carbon Flux and Productivity Response to Future Climate
Abstract Lakes support globally important food webs through algal productivity and contribute significantly to the global carbon cycle. However, predictions of how broad‐scale lake carbon flux and productivity may respond to future climate are extremely limited. Here, we used an integrated modeling framework to project changes in lake‐specific and regional primary productivity and carbon fluxes under 21st century climate for thousands of lakes. We observed high uncertainty in whether lakes collectively were to increase or decrease lake CO2emissions and carbon burial in our modeled region owing to divergence in projected regional water balance among climate models. Variation in projected air temperature influenced projected changes in lake primary productivity (but not CO2emissions or carbon burial) as warmer air temperatures decreased productivity through reduced lake water volume. Cross‐scale interactions between regional drivers and local characteristics dictated the magnitude and direction of lake‐specific carbon flux and productivity responses to future climate.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1725386
- PAR ID:
- 10449349
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Volume:
- 46
- Issue:
- 15
- ISSN:
- 0094-8276
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 8840-8851
- Size(s):
- p. 8840-8851
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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