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Spatial Decoupling of Aquatic and Terrestrial Carbon Fluxes in a Tropical Andean Headwater Corridor


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Created: May 23, 2026 at 4:51 a.m. (UTC)
Last updated: Jun 17, 2026 at 5:33 p.m. (UTC)
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Abstract

The global carbon (C) cycle increasingly recognizes the importance of inland waters, and in particular, headwater streams. These streams transport and transform C that has been produced on land and will ultimately be delivered to the ocean, stored in the ground, or released to the atmosphere. Studies that quantify C fluxes in inland waters traditionally focus on one type of aquatic system (i.e., wetland, stream, lake), leaving a gap in our understanding of how hydrologic processes affect whole ecosystem C fluxes across the continuum from terrestrial to aquatic systems. In this study, we characterized C flux dynamics across ~4 km of a first-order, spring-fed stream within a stratovolcano catchment of the Andes Mountains. We collected a suite of environmental variables, including dissolved carbon dioxide (pCO2), dissolved methane (pCH4), specific conductance, and temperature, across 38 points throughout the catchment. Additionally, we collected soil CO2 efflux in areas adjacent to the stream as well as morphological data on stream channel including width, depth, slope, and water velocity to calculate gas transfer velocity (k600) and aquatic CO2 evasion. Our analysis revealed pronounced longitudinal gradients and spatial heterogeneity in aquatic C concentrations and fluxes, which contrasted drastically with the lack of such spatial heterogeneity in terrestrial C fluxes. The stream was highly enriched in dissolved CO2 where the spring emerged, but rapidly off gassed 99.5% of the pCO2 in the first kilometer of the stream channel. The calculated aquatic evasion exhibited a similar decreasing pattern, although it was also influenced by k600 and other variables. Our findings reveal that spatial patterns of aquatic and terrestrial CO2 fluxes to the atmosphere are decoupled longitudinally and provide insight into ecosystem-scale dynamics of C across tropical catchments in complex terrain.

Subject Keywords

Coverage

Spatial

Coordinate System/Geographic Projection:
WGS 84 EPSG:4326
Coordinate Units:
Decimal degrees
Place/Area Name:
Antisana Water Conservation Area - Yakupamba
North Latitude
-0.4945°
East Longitude
-78.2173°
South Latitude
-0.5203°
West Longitude
-78.2432°

Temporal

Start Date:
End Date:

Content

Additional Metadata

Name Value
Flux_Data_Repository This file contains direct measurements of environmental variables and calculated values of flux. Column names and descriptions are as follows: (1) Waypoint: the numeric label assigned to each synoptic collection point, (2) Date: the date of collection, (3) Elevation: measured in meters from a handheld GPS unit, (4, 5) Coordinates of point from handheld GPS unit, (6) pCO2: pCO2 measured in ppm, (7) pH: measured with handheld sensor, (8) Width: measured in meters, (9) Velocity: measured in meters per second, (10) Soil Flux: measured with eos chamber in μmol m-2 s-1, (11) Water temperature: measured in C, (12) Atmosphere Pressure: measured in kPa, (13) Distance from previous waypoint: Euclidean distance in meters, (14) Distance from Stream Head: cumulative measurement of previous column, (15) pCH4: measured in μM, (16, 17) partial pressure of CO2 in the water and air in atm, (18) Slope: calculated with distance and elevation changes – unitless, (18) Stream Energy Dissipation Rate: energy dissipation rate in m2 s-3, (19) Temperature-Corrected Gas Transfer Velocity (k600): gas transfer velocity using k600 and schmidt's constant, (20) Calculated Flux: using multiple formulas described in methods and measured in μmol m-2 s-1, (21) Area of Segment: waypoint width x distance from last point, (22) Total Flux of Segment: area of segment x calculated flux, (23) Cumulative Flux Downstream: cumulative addition of segment flux, (24) Insolation: at each waypoint measured in ​​kWh m-2 day-1
Insolation_Data_Repository This file contains extracted pixel values of solar insolation calculated using the SAGA-QGIS tool “Daily Insolation over Latitude.” Column names and descriptions are as follows: (1) cat: the numeric label assigned to each pixel on the spatial representation, (2) value: the calculated insolation measured in kWh/m2

Credits

Funding Agencies

This resource was created using funding from the following sources:
Agency Name Award Title Award Number
U.S. National Science Foundation None EAR-2317854
U.S. National Science Foundation None EAR-1847331

How to Cite

Martin, D. E., P. Brocco, E. Clark, B. Lahuatte, J. Williams, W. Xu, D. Riveros-Iregui (2026). Spatial Decoupling of Aquatic and Terrestrial Carbon Fluxes in a Tropical Andean Headwater Corridor, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/1b221d5ce9b543739457b6f32ac83db8

This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
CC-BY

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