Net ecosystem exchange of lower Amazon River: from land to the ocean and atmosphere

• Grant number: 12/51187-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Program on Global Climate Change - SPEC
• Duration: May 01, 2013 - April 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Edward Richey
• Grantee: Jeffrey Edward Richey
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Alex Vladimir Krusche ; Maria Victoria Ramos Ballester ; Reynaldo Luiz Victória
• Associated scholarship(s): 14/21564-2 - Biogeochemistry of the lower Amazon, BP.PD; 14/21576-0 - Hydrodynamic and transport constituents analysis of the lower Amazon River, BP.PD
• FAPESP publication: https://media.fapesp.br/bv/uploads/pdfs/science_of_the_amazon_6_18_19.pdf

Abstract

The premise of this project is that C02 outgassing and respiration rates are supported by the cycling of a large variety of OM fuels - derived from allochthonous, autochthonous, and macrophytic biomass - each with an inherent lability and unique rate of degradation, varying systematically over the hydrograph. Using new methods, these processes can be tracked, quantified and understood with high fidelity. Recent advances in technology allow exciting new work that has not been previously possible, and riverine systems can now be effectively examined and understood through the lenses of Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) and 'Metabolic Efficiency.' Our overall objective is to examine the processes that govern the advection, reaction, and transitions of carbon through the lower reach of the Amazon River, from Óbidos (the last traditional measuring station on the Amazon), to the oceano An ambitious field study, combining cutting edge geochemical, metabolomics, and geospatial analyses, will explore the influence of downstream processing on globally-relevant geochemical fluxes. Six unique approaches will be employed: 1) deployment of in situ incubator systems that make continuous measurements of important river components and can collect discrete samples, 2) measurement of C02 fluxes and 13C isotopic compositions using our incubation systems coupled to a field-portable isotopic gas analyzer, 3) examination of the organic matter fueling respiration using a metabolomics approach based on high resolution mass spectrometry and compound specific radiocarbon dating, 4) determination of the proportion of respired organic matter that is fixed as biomass or lost as C02 to determine the Metabolic Efficiency of various OM types, 5) deployment of an ADCP-based (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) approach to accurately quantify water fluxes along different reaches of a river, and 6) development of a coupled Lagrangian transport/basin hydrology model to provide the quantitative context to integrate terms into the evaluation of Net Ecosystem Exchange. (AU)

Scientific publications

(6)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SAWAKUCHI, HENRIQUE O.; BASTVIKEN, DAVID; ENRICH-PRAST, ALEX; WARD, NICHOLAS D.; CAMARGO, PLINIO B.; RICHEY, JEFFREY E.. Low Diffusive Methane Emissions From the Main Channel of a Large Amazonian Run-of-the-River Reservoir Attributed to High Methane Oxidation. FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, v. 9, APR 8 2021. (14/21564-2, 12/17359-9, 18/18491-4, 11/14502-2, 12/51187-0, 15/09187-1)

SAWAKUCHI, HENRIQUE O.; NEU, VANIA; WARD, NICHOLAS D.; BARROS, MARIA DE LOURDES C.; VALERIO, ALINE M.; GAGNE-MAYNARD, WILLIAM; CUNHA, ALAN C.; LESS, DIANI F. S.; DINIZ, JOEL E. M.; BRITO, DAIMIO C.; et al. Carbon Dioxide Emissions along the Lower Amazon River. FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE, v. 4, 2017. (14/21564-2, 15/09187-1, 12/51187-0)

KUHN, CATHERINE; VALERIO, ALINE DE MATOS; WARD, NICK; LOKEN, LUKE; SAWAKUCHI, HENRIQUE OLIVEIRA; KARNPEL, MILTON; RICHEY, JEFFREY; STADLER, PHILIPP; CRAWFORD, JOHN; STRIEGL, ROB; et al. Performance of Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 surface reflectance products for river remote sensing retrievals of chlorophyll-a and turbidity. REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT, v. 224, p. 104-118, APR 2019. (14/21564-2, 12/51187-0)

DOHERTY, MARY; YAGER, PATRICIA L.; MORAN, MARY ANN; COLES, VICTORIA J.; FORTUNATO, CAROLINE S.; KRUSCHE, ALEX V.; MEDEIROS, PATRICIA M.; PAYET, JEROME P.; RICHEY, JEFFREY E.; SATINSKY, BRANDON M.; et al. Bacterial Biogeography across the Amazon River-Ocean Continuum. FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY, v. 8, MAY 23 2017. (12/51187-0)

VALERIO, ALINE DE M.; KAMPEL, MILTON; VANTREPOTTE, VINCENT; WARD, NICHOLAS D.; RICHEY, JEFFREY E.. Optical Classification of Lower Amazon Waters Based on In Situ Data and Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Color Instrument Imagery. REMOTE SENSING, v. 13, n. 16, AUG 2021. (12/51187-0, 18/18491-4)

VALERIO, ALINE DE MATOS; KAMPEL, MILTON; VANTREPOTTE, VINCENT; WARD, NICHOLAS D.; SAWAKUCHI, HENRIQUE OLIVEIRA; DA SILVA LESS, DIANI FERNANDA; NEU, VANIA; CUNHA, ALAN; RICHEY, JEFFREY. Using CDOM optical properties for estimating DOC concentrations and pCO(2) in the Lower Amazon River. Optics Express, v. 26, n. 14, p. A657-A677, JUL 9 2018. (12/51187-0)