Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: As a core component of the South China Karst World Heritage site, carbon dynamics in the Lijiang River Basin are crucial for ecosystem conservation. This study quantified spatiotemporal variations in CO 2 degassing fluxes (FCO 2 ) across Strahler order rivers in June and December 2019. FCO 2 exhibited a nonlinear relationship with river order: increasing with order in June but decreasing in December. This shift is likely influenced by respiration and organic carbon degradation (June), as well as photosynthesis and carbonate weathering (December), respectively. Gas transfer velocity and terrestrial carbon input caused FCO 2 trends to deviate from expectations at specific orders. In addition, lower-order streams (orders 1–3), covering 34% of the basin area, contributed 38% of total emissions, challenging the hypothesis of disproportionately high emissions from small streams. Linking karst heritage protection to riverine carbon cycling, this study aids carbon emission control, water conservation, and ecosystem stability in the World Heritage site.
Source: npj Heritage Science
Authors: Wenqing Feng, Tao Zhang, Peng Chen, Xinyu Kang, Ningzhe Xi, Yaru Jiang, Xinlu Su, Jianhong Li, Junbing Pu
Language: English
Subfield: Earth-Surface Processes
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4417081295