Abstract
The role of streams and rivers in the global carbon (C) cycle remains unconstrained, especially in headwater streams where CO2 evasion (FCO2) to the atmosphere is high. Stream C cycling is understudied in the tropics compared to temperate streams, and tropical streams may have among the highest FCO2 due to higher temperatures, continuous organic matter inputs, and high respiration rates both in-stream and in surrounding soils. In this paper, we present paired in-stream O2 and CO2 sensor data from a headwater stream in a lowland rainforest in Costa Rica to explore temporal variability in gas concentrations and ecosystem processes. Further, we estimate groundwater CO2 inputs (GWCO2) from riparian well CO2 measurements. Paired O2–CO2 data reveal stream CO2 supersaturation driven by groundwater CO2 inputs and large in-stream production of CO2. At short time scales, CO2 was diluted during storm events, but increased at longer seasonal scales. Areal fluxes in our study reach show that FCO2 is supported by greater in-stream metabolism compared to GWCO2. Our results underscore the importance of tropical headwater streams as large contributors of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and show evaded C can be derived from both in-stream and terrestrial sources.
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Data, code, and supplementary material from this study can be accessed at https://github.com/nmarzolf91/Taconazo_CO2.
Code availability
Data, code, and supplementary material from this study can be accessed at https://github.com/nmarzolf91/Taconazo_CO2.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Minor Hidalgo for help in the field and sensor calibration and maintenance. This study was aided by Laura Willson and the Organization for Tropical Studies Research Experience for Undergraduates program. Dr. Mark Johnson aided in setting up and interpreting CO2 sensor data. Funding was provided by National Science Foundation DEB award #1655869. We are grateful to members of the Ardón Lab and Dr. Diego Riveros-Iregui for their comments on early drafts of the manuscript. The manuscript was greatly improved following comments from two anonymous reviewers.
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Funding was provided by National Science Foundation (NSF) Long-Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) program (award #1655869).
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Conceptualization: NM, CS, DO-V, CG, JD, DG, MA; Methodology: NM, CS, CG, DO-V, DG, MA; Formal analysis and investigation: NM, CS, DO-V, DG, MA; Writing - original draft preparation: NM, CS, MA; Writing - review and editing: all authors; Funding acquisition: MA, AR, CP; Resources: CS, DO-V, DG, CG, MA; Supervision: MA, AR, CP.
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Marzolf, N.S., Small, G.E., Oviedo-Vargas, D. et al. Partitioning inorganic carbon fluxes from paired O2–CO2 gas measurements in a Neotropical headwater stream, Costa Rica. Biogeochemistry 160, 259–273 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-00954-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-00954-4