The Importance of Ditches and Canals in Global Inland Water CO and NO Budgets.
Teresa Silverthorn, Joachim Audet, Chris D Evans, Judith van der Knaap, Sarian Kosten, José Paranaíba, Quinten Struik, Jackie Webb, Wenxin Wu, Zhifeng Yan, Mike Peacock
Author Information
Teresa Silverthorn: Department of Geography and Planning, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. ORCID
Joachim Audet: Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. ORCID
Chris D Evans: UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bangor, UK. ORCID
Judith van der Knaap: Department of Ecology, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. ORCID
Sarian Kosten: Department of Ecology, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. ORCID
José Paranaíba: Department of Ecology, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. ORCID
Quinten Struik: Department of Ecology, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. ORCID
Jackie Webb: School of Agriculture and Environmental Science, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. ORCID
Wenxin Wu: Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. ORCID
Zhifeng Yan: Institute of Surface Earth System Science, School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
Mike Peacock: Department of Geography and Planning, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. ORCID
Ditches and canals are omitted from global budgets of inland water emissions, despite research showing them to be emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Here, we synthesize data across climate zones and land use types to show, for the first time, that global ditches emit notable amounts of carbon dioxide (CO) and nitrous oxide (NO). Ditches had higher per-area emissions of CO and NO than ponds, lakes, and reservoirs, likely due to high nutrient inputs. Preliminary upscaling showed that the inclusion of ditches would increase global inland water CO emissions by 0.6%-1% and NO emissions by 3%-9%. Trophic state and climate influenced NO emissions, while CO emissions had complex drivers difficult to disentangle at the global scale. This research highlights the importance of including ditches in global inland water GHG budgets and informs more accurate reporting of anthropogenic emissions in national inventories.
