USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications
Florida’s urban stormwater ponds are net sources of carbon to the atmosphere despite increased carbon burial over time
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2022
ISSN
2662-4435
Abstract
Stormwater ponds are engineered ecosystems designed for flood control and sediment retention in urban watersheds. They are the most commonly used stormwater control measure in the USA, but their biogeochemical processes and impacts are often overlooked. Here, we assessed the potential impact of stormwater ponds on regional carbon cycling by coupling carbon burial rates and fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane gases in five sites over an age gradient of 14–34 years. Carbon burial increased logarithmically with site age, ranging from 22 to 217 g carbon m−2 y−1, while, median floating chamber diffusive gas fluxes were 1290 g carbon dioxide m−2 y−1 and 5 g methane m−2 y−1, which, when combined as carbon dioxide equivalents, equates to 2900 g carbon dioxide eq m−2 y−1. Comparing carbon burial to gas flux reveals that stormwater ponds can be net carbon sources and need to be considered for regional and global carbon models.
Language
en_US
Publisher
Springer Nature
Recommended Citation
Goeckner, A.H., Lusk, M.G., Reisinger, A.J., Hosen, J.D., & Smoak, J.M. (2022). Florida’s urban stormwater ponds are net sources of carbon to the atmosphere despite increased carbon burial over time. Communications Earth & Environment, 3(53), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00384-y
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
