Landscape controls on riverine export of dissolved organic carbon from Great Britain
The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export from land to ocean via rivers is a significant term in the global C cycle, and has been modified in many areas by human activity. DOC exports from large global rivers are fairly well quantified, but those from smaller river systems, including those draining...
Published in: | Biogeochemistry |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Springer
2021
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529760/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529760/1/Williamson2021_Article_LandscapeControlsOnRiverineExp.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00762-2 |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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ftnerc |
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English |
topic |
Ecology and Environment |
spellingShingle |
Ecology and Environment Williamson, Jennifer L. Tye, Andrew Lapworth, Dan J. Monteith, Don Sanders, Richard Mayor, Daniel J. Barry, Chris Bowes, Mike Bowes, Michael Burden, Annette Callaghan, Nathan Farr, Gareth Felgate, Stacey Fitch, Alice Gibb, Stuart Gilbert, Pete Hargreaves, Geoff Keenan, Patrick Kitidis, Vassilis Juergens, Monika Martin, Adrian Mounteney, Ian Nightingale, Philip D. Pereira, M. Gloria Olszewska, Justyna Pickard, Amy Rees, Andrew P. Spears, Bryan Stinchcombe, Mark White, Debbie Williams, Peter Worrall, Fred Evans, Chris Landscape controls on riverine export of dissolved organic carbon from Great Britain |
topic_facet |
Ecology and Environment |
description |
The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export from land to ocean via rivers is a significant term in the global C cycle, and has been modified in many areas by human activity. DOC exports from large global rivers are fairly well quantified, but those from smaller river systems, including those draining oceanic regions, are generally under-represented in global syntheses. Given that these regions typically have high runoff and high peat cover, they may exert a disproportionate influence on the global land–ocean DOC export. Here we describe a comprehensive new assessment of the annual riverine DOC export to estuaries across the island of Great Britain (GB), which spans the latitude range 50–60° N with strong spatial gradients of topography, soils, rainfall, land use and population density. DOC yields (export per unit area) were positively related to and best predicted by rainfall, peat extent and forest cover, but relatively insensitive to population density or agricultural development. Based on an empirical relationship with land use and rainfall we estimate that the DOC export from the GB land area to the freshwater-seawater interface was 1.15 Tg C year−1 in 2017. The average yield for GB rivers is 5.04 g C m−2 year−1, higher than most of the world’s major rivers, including those of the humid tropics and Arctic, supporting the conclusion that under-representation of smaller river systems draining peat-rich areas could lead to under-estimation of the global land–ocean DOC export. The main anthropogenic factor influencing the spatial distribution of GB DOC exports appears to be upland conifer plantation forestry, which is estimated to have raised the overall DOC export by 0.168 Tg C year−1. This is equivalent to 15% of the estimated current rate of net CO2 uptake by British forests. With the UK and many other countries seeking to expand plantation forest cover for climate change mitigation, this ‘leak in the ecosystem’ should be incorporated in future assessments of the CO2 sequestration potential of forest planting ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Williamson, Jennifer L. Tye, Andrew Lapworth, Dan J. Monteith, Don Sanders, Richard Mayor, Daniel J. Barry, Chris Bowes, Mike Bowes, Michael Burden, Annette Callaghan, Nathan Farr, Gareth Felgate, Stacey Fitch, Alice Gibb, Stuart Gilbert, Pete Hargreaves, Geoff Keenan, Patrick Kitidis, Vassilis Juergens, Monika Martin, Adrian Mounteney, Ian Nightingale, Philip D. Pereira, M. Gloria Olszewska, Justyna Pickard, Amy Rees, Andrew P. Spears, Bryan Stinchcombe, Mark White, Debbie Williams, Peter Worrall, Fred Evans, Chris |
author_facet |
Williamson, Jennifer L. Tye, Andrew Lapworth, Dan J. Monteith, Don Sanders, Richard Mayor, Daniel J. Barry, Chris Bowes, Mike Bowes, Michael Burden, Annette Callaghan, Nathan Farr, Gareth Felgate, Stacey Fitch, Alice Gibb, Stuart Gilbert, Pete Hargreaves, Geoff Keenan, Patrick Kitidis, Vassilis Juergens, Monika Martin, Adrian Mounteney, Ian Nightingale, Philip D. Pereira, M. Gloria Olszewska, Justyna Pickard, Amy Rees, Andrew P. Spears, Bryan Stinchcombe, Mark White, Debbie Williams, Peter Worrall, Fred Evans, Chris |
author_sort |
Williamson, Jennifer L. |
title |
Landscape controls on riverine export of dissolved organic carbon from Great Britain |
title_short |
Landscape controls on riverine export of dissolved organic carbon from Great Britain |
title_full |
Landscape controls on riverine export of dissolved organic carbon from Great Britain |
title_fullStr |
Landscape controls on riverine export of dissolved organic carbon from Great Britain |
title_full_unstemmed |
Landscape controls on riverine export of dissolved organic carbon from Great Britain |
title_sort |
landscape controls on riverine export of dissolved organic carbon from great britain |
publisher |
Springer |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529760/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529760/1/Williamson2021_Article_LandscapeControlsOnRiverineExp.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00762-2 |
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ENVELOPE(-57.531,-57.531,51.817,51.817) |
geographic |
Arctic The Gib |
geographic_facet |
Arctic The Gib |
genre |
Arctic Climate change |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529760/1/Williamson2021_Article_LandscapeControlsOnRiverineExp.pdf Williamson, Jennifer L.; Tye, Andrew; Lapworth, Dan J. orcid:0000-0001-7838-7960 Monteith, Don; Sanders, Richard orcid:0000-0002-6884-7131 Mayor, Daniel J. orcid:0000-0002-1295-0041 Barry, Chris; Bowes, Mike; Bowes, Michael; Burden, Annette; Callaghan, Nathan; Farr, Gareth; Felgate, Stacey orcid:0000-0002-9955-4948 Fitch, Alice; Gibb, Stuart; Gilbert, Pete; Hargreaves, Geoff orcid:0000-0002-4361-6134 Keenan, Patrick; Kitidis, Vassilis; Juergens, Monika; Martin, Adrian orcid:0000-0002-1202-8612 Mounteney, Ian; Nightingale, Philip D.; Pereira, M. Gloria; Olszewska, Justyna; Pickard, Amy; Rees, Andrew P.; Spears, Bryan; Stinchcombe, Mark; White, Debbie; Williams, Peter; Worrall, Fred; Evans, Chris. 2021 Landscape controls on riverine export of dissolved organic carbon from Great Britain. Biogeochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00762-2 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00762-2> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00762-2 |
container_title |
Biogeochemistry |
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1768384021036793856 |
spelling |
ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:529760 2023-06-11T04:09:58+02:00 Landscape controls on riverine export of dissolved organic carbon from Great Britain Williamson, Jennifer L. Tye, Andrew Lapworth, Dan J. Monteith, Don Sanders, Richard Mayor, Daniel J. Barry, Chris Bowes, Mike Bowes, Michael Burden, Annette Callaghan, Nathan Farr, Gareth Felgate, Stacey Fitch, Alice Gibb, Stuart Gilbert, Pete Hargreaves, Geoff Keenan, Patrick Kitidis, Vassilis Juergens, Monika Martin, Adrian Mounteney, Ian Nightingale, Philip D. Pereira, M. Gloria Olszewska, Justyna Pickard, Amy Rees, Andrew P. Spears, Bryan Stinchcombe, Mark White, Debbie Williams, Peter Worrall, Fred Evans, Chris 2021-02-16 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529760/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529760/1/Williamson2021_Article_LandscapeControlsOnRiverineExp.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00762-2 en eng Springer https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/529760/1/Williamson2021_Article_LandscapeControlsOnRiverineExp.pdf Williamson, Jennifer L.; Tye, Andrew; Lapworth, Dan J. orcid:0000-0001-7838-7960 Monteith, Don; Sanders, Richard orcid:0000-0002-6884-7131 Mayor, Daniel J. orcid:0000-0002-1295-0041 Barry, Chris; Bowes, Mike; Bowes, Michael; Burden, Annette; Callaghan, Nathan; Farr, Gareth; Felgate, Stacey orcid:0000-0002-9955-4948 Fitch, Alice; Gibb, Stuart; Gilbert, Pete; Hargreaves, Geoff orcid:0000-0002-4361-6134 Keenan, Patrick; Kitidis, Vassilis; Juergens, Monika; Martin, Adrian orcid:0000-0002-1202-8612 Mounteney, Ian; Nightingale, Philip D.; Pereira, M. Gloria; Olszewska, Justyna; Pickard, Amy; Rees, Andrew P.; Spears, Bryan; Stinchcombe, Mark; White, Debbie; Williams, Peter; Worrall, Fred; Evans, Chris. 2021 Landscape controls on riverine export of dissolved organic carbon from Great Britain. Biogeochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00762-2 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00762-2> cc_by_4 Ecology and Environment Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00762-2 2023-04-27T23:02:45Z The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export from land to ocean via rivers is a significant term in the global C cycle, and has been modified in many areas by human activity. DOC exports from large global rivers are fairly well quantified, but those from smaller river systems, including those draining oceanic regions, are generally under-represented in global syntheses. Given that these regions typically have high runoff and high peat cover, they may exert a disproportionate influence on the global land–ocean DOC export. Here we describe a comprehensive new assessment of the annual riverine DOC export to estuaries across the island of Great Britain (GB), which spans the latitude range 50–60° N with strong spatial gradients of topography, soils, rainfall, land use and population density. DOC yields (export per unit area) were positively related to and best predicted by rainfall, peat extent and forest cover, but relatively insensitive to population density or agricultural development. Based on an empirical relationship with land use and rainfall we estimate that the DOC export from the GB land area to the freshwater-seawater interface was 1.15 Tg C year−1 in 2017. The average yield for GB rivers is 5.04 g C m−2 year−1, higher than most of the world’s major rivers, including those of the humid tropics and Arctic, supporting the conclusion that under-representation of smaller river systems draining peat-rich areas could lead to under-estimation of the global land–ocean DOC export. The main anthropogenic factor influencing the spatial distribution of GB DOC exports appears to be upland conifer plantation forestry, which is estimated to have raised the overall DOC export by 0.168 Tg C year−1. This is equivalent to 15% of the estimated current rate of net CO2 uptake by British forests. With the UK and many other countries seeking to expand plantation forest cover for climate change mitigation, this ‘leak in the ecosystem’ should be incorporated in future assessments of the CO2 sequestration potential of forest planting ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Arctic The Gib ENVELOPE(-57.531,-57.531,51.817,51.817) Biogeochemistry |