Fluvial carbon export from a lowland Amazonian rainforest in relation to atmospheric fluxes

Leena E. Vihermaa, Susan Waldron, Tomas F. Domingues, John Grace, Eric G. Cosio, Fabian Limonchi, Chris Hopkinson, Humberto Ribeiro da Rocha, Emanuel Gloor

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Abstract

We constructed a whole carbon budget for a catchment in the Western Amazon Basin, combining drainage water analyses with eddy covariance (EC) measured terrestrial CO2 fluxes. As fluvial C export can represent permanent C export it must be included in assessments of whole site C balance, but it is rarely done. The footprint area of the flux tower is drained by two small streams (~5–7 km2) from which we measured the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), particulate organic carbon (POC) export, and CO2 efflux. The EC measurements showed the site C balance to be +0.7 ± 9.7 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 (a source to the atmosphere) and fluvial export was 0.3 ± 0.04 Mg C ha−1 yr−1. Of the total fluvial loss 34% was DIC, 37% DOC, and 29% POC. The wet season was most important for fluvial C export. There was a large uncertainty associated with the EC results and with previous biomass plot studies (−0.5 ± 4.1 Mg C ha−1 yr−1); hence, it cannot be concluded with certainty whether the site is C sink or source. The fluvial export corresponds to only 3–7% of the uncertainty related to the site C balance; thus, other factors need to be considered to reduce the uncertainty and refine the estimated C balance. However, stream C export is significant, especially for almost neutral sites where fluvial loss may determine the direction of the site C balance. The fate of C downstream then dictates the overall climate impact of fluvial export.
Original languageSpanish
Pages (from-to)3001-3018
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Volume121
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2016

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